(KRON) -- Many retail stores across the Bay Area have turned to locking up commonly stolen items to prevent against shoplifting. But there is a downside to that tactic, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said. "When you lock things up, you don't sell as many of them. We've proven that pretty conclusively," he said on an earnings call on Friday of last week. Two Walgreens stores set to close in Oakland Stores lock up the items so they can't be lifted easily off the shelves, but some customers prefer not to wait around for an employee to unlock the goods. It is one measure some stores have taken to curb retail theft, along with closing self-checkout stations. The Bay Area is an epicenter of shoplifting, and one San Francisco Walgreens even chained an entire freezer shut in 2023. Wentworth called the fight against retail theft a "hand-to-hand combat battle" on the earnings call. Walgreens' presence in the Bay Area will shrink soon. It announced that it plans to close 12 stores in San Francisco in next month and two more in Oakland.