Over the years the pharmacy chain used strategy to combat shoplifting. Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said the company’s decision to lock up products after reporting a 52% increase in stolen inventory has backfired, according to multiple reports.

In an earnings call, executive Tim Wentworth conceded that locking products up might not be the best move for boosting sales.

The top executive at Walgreens lamented the loss of sales from putting items like toothpaste behind lock and key to crack down on rampant shoplifting that has plagued pharmacy chains around the country.

The CEO of Walgreens suggested that placing their products under lock and key may have actually backfired. "When you lock things up … you don't sell as many of them," he said. Walgreens’ plan to combat increasing theft by locking products up at their stores has hurt sales,