Note that as leases expire, businesses are fleeing the dead, not dying, city of San Fran.
“Several stores San Francisco announced on Wednesday that they would be closing this month, including cosmetics companies L’Occitane and Sephora at San Francisco Centre and outdoor equipment company The North Face at Union Square, becoming the latest casualties in the continuing decline of stores in San Francisco.
Both the San Francisco Centre Mall, soon to be renamed Emporium Centre San Francisco, and Union Square have been losing businesses for the last several years. At the mall, many large retailers, such as Nordstrom and Cinemark left last year. In the last few months, Hollister, Addidas, and The Lego Store have also left.”
The good news is that San Fran is a warning to the rest of the nation—Biden/Newsom will do this to you. Just look at Boston, NYC, Chicago and Denver—all cities that have entered the doom loop—all run by Democrats.
Three More Major Retail Locations Announce San Francisco Closures
L’Occitane, Sephora at SF Centre, and The North Face at Union Square closing
By Evan Symon, California Globe, 3/7/24 https://californiaglobe.com/fr/three-more-major-retail-locations-announce-san-francisco-closures/
Several stores San Francisco announced on Wednesday that they would be closing this month, including cosmetics companies L’Occitane and Sephora at San Francisco Centre and outdoor equipment company The North Face at Union Square, becoming the latest casualties in the continuing decline of stores in San Francisco.
Both the San Francisco Centre Mall, soon to be renamed Emporium Centre San Francisco, and Union Square have been losing businesses for the last several years. At the mall, many large retailers, such as Nordstrom and Cinemark left last year. In the last few months, Hollister, Addidas, and The Lego Store have also left.
Meanwhile in Union Square, companies have also been fleeing in the wake of the 2021 and 2022 smash and grab robberies that plagued the area. While multiple boutique stores have left, the biggest recent departure was only a week ago when Macy’s announced that it would be leaving their location of 95 years.
The reason for the departures have been all over the map, ranging from high taxes to low business to the general decline of retail to online shopping competition. But the baseline through every closure so far this decade has been one either stated or heavily hinted thing: crime. Break-ins, shoplifting, flash mob robberies, and so much more have caused small retailers and big retailers like Walgreens and Target to leave for years. The city has denied that that is the reason for years, but employees, managers, and others have told the Globe that no matter what is said, crime has at least been a factor. For some industries, like food stores, San Francisco has been hit so hard that a new ordinance currently being looked at would require companies to give six months notice of a closure to help plan around it.
It was amid all of this that the newest closures were announced on Wednesday. L’Occitane all but left the mall as of Thursday, with Sephora planning to be out for good by mid-April. While companies that normally leave usually have statements as to why, neither company has given one as of yet. In Union Square, The North Face will be closing down on March 17th, also with no announcement as to why. However, with Union Square and the mall at high vacancy rates, and expected to be at even worse levels later this year as leases expire, it doesn’t take a genius to see as to why.
More closures in SF
“I mean crime. Duh,” explained Bay Area security consultant and former policeman Frank Ma to the Globe on Thursday. “The mall, well, the mall is it’s own thing, but I have talked with managers who used to work at store there and are now elsewhere in the city, and they said the mall was dead. No customers, but also the worry of being robbed downtown or having their stores, for the lack of a better word, plundered. Look at all the stores that have left there. They either are very niche and susceptible to low traffic or they sell items that are easily stolen. No one likes shopping in malls so much anymore, and that worry only goes up with crime, Or in San Francisco’s case, crime around the mall.”
“Union Square is something I can speak more to. I have done security consultations around there and all owners want to talk with me about is how to avoid being robbed. What kind of glass best protects from robberies. Who the best security companies are. Are there ways to deter thefts. It’s horrifying. And places that aren’t affected are seeing less people walk by because they’re afraid of getting robbed. So, one way or another, it’s this crime affecting people and their shopping habits. Why risk one of these robberies when you can just order it from Amazon? That’s the mentality people are getting more and more of. Mayor Breed and others in the city keep saying to go downtown and shop, but people still don’t feel safe. They’re going elsewhere. That’s why all these stores are leaving. You can have the most secure store in the city, but people won’t show up if they know that there are addicts around ready to jump them.”
More retail closures are expected in the city later this year as leases expire.
