I did, yes. The second link has the relevant quote from the CFO - "We're probably -- you know, maybe we cried too much last year when we were hitting numbers that were 3.5% of sales".

Though looking at the context, it looks like he regrets the actions (specifically increased security hired) that came from that. There doesn't seem to be anything about the link to store closures.

The actual link came from an article Shepard Pie below you provided here (Is Shoplifting Really Surging?). Apparently nationwide, shoplifting is down - except in certain cities

But the increase in shoplifting appears to be limited to a few cities, rather than being truly national. [..] There are some exceptions, particularly New York City, where shoplifting has spiked.

Out of the 24 cities, 17 reported decreases in shoplifting.

I'm guessing the 7 remaining cities are where the stores were closed.