T-Mobile has become the latest major retailer to close a flagship store in San Francisco as the city faces a business exodus due to ‘rampant criminal activity’.
The decision by the telecoms giant to shutter its premises in Union Square follows similar announcements last week by Saks Off 5th and Nordstrom.
T-Mobile said the closure of its two-level, 17,000-sq-ft building in the heart of San Francisco’s was part of its ‘nationwide retail strategy to better take care of customers’.
It is the latest in a string of closures to blight the tech haven, which has been ravaged by rising crime and a homelessness epidemic.
Billionaire Elon Musk last week blasted downtown San Francisco as ‘post-apocalyptic’.
T-Mobile has become the latest major retailer to close a flagship store in San Francisco as the city faces a business exodus due to ‘rampant criminal activity’
The T-Mobile building was previously home to Apple’s flagship store, before the tech giant moved to its current location on Post Street.
The Union Square store was sold to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation in 2013 for $50million, records show.
It comes after luxury department store Nordstrom said it was to close both its units in downtown San Francisco in the coming months, having served the area for 35 years.
Its 40,000-sq-ft Nordstrom Rack store on Market Street is set to shutter on July 1, while one of its flagship units – the 312,000-sq-ft Nordstrom at Westfield San Francisco Centre, will close by the end of August.
Explaining the decision, Chief Stores Officer Jamie Nordstrom said ‘the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully’.
A spokesman for Westfield said the move underscored ‘the deteriorating situation’ in the district.
‘A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area,’ the statement from Westfield and its owner, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield [URW], said.
‘URW has actively engaged with City leaders for many years to express our serious concerns, which are shared by our customers and retailers.
‘We have urged the City to find solutions to the key issues and lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity.
‘The current environment is not sustainable for the community, or businesses, and we are hopeful the City will implement the changes that are so urgently needed.’
The Nordstrom Rack in downtown San Francisco which will be closing on July 1
Nordstrom chief stores officer Jamie Nordstrom said ‘the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully’
Whole Foods temporarily closed a flagship location in the city last month citing safety fears
A Whole Foods spokesperson declared the store closed down due to safety concerns for its staff amid rampant drug use, theft and aggressive behavior in the area (homeless people consume drugs in street encampments in downtown SF)
‘Zombie-like’ drug addicts are pictured using and strung-out on drugs in Downtown San Francisco, CA. Thursday, April 6, 2023
It came just a day after Saks Off 5th said it expected to close its downtown store in Autumn, after eight years in the city.
Whole Foods temporarily closed a flagship location in the city last month citing safety fears for staff – just a year after opening the unit.
The organic food giant opened a new ‘flagship’ location at Trinity Place in the city’s Tenderloin district in March 2022, hoping to revitalize footfall after two years of draconian COVID restrictions severely impacted businesses in the area.
But a Whole Foods spokesman said the store would shut ‘for the time being’ and would only reopen ‘if we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members’.
A City Hall source said the company cited deteriorating street conditions around drug use and crime near the store as the driving factors behind the closure, The San Francisco Standard reported.
The Trinity Place Whole Foods store suffered problems from the moment it opened its doors in March 2022, with managers in October reducing operating hours due to ‘high theft’ and hostile visitors.
Billionaire Elon Musk has branded downtown San Francisco ‘post-apocalyptic’ as retailers continue to flee the city over concerns about safety
One month later, the store announced customers would only be able to access the toilets with a valid QR code after syringes and pipes were found littering the bathroom floor.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey claimed a Whole Foods employee had told him there were no longer any baskets available for shoppers because all 250 had been stolen.
It emerged last month that a Target store in San Francisco had locked up its entire product range citing concerns over ‘organized retail crime’.
A video posted on TikTok on April 20 shows all of the items secured behind glass.
According to geotagged imagery, some products at the store on Folsom Street were secured by lock and key since at least October of last year, WNCT reported.
California’s Proposition 47, which downgraded crimes like drug possession and theft of goods under $950 from felonies to misdemeanors, has previously been blamed for a breakdown in law and order in cities across the state, driving businesses out.
San Francisco’s homeless population hit 8,000 last year, figures show, the second highest since 2005, topped only by 2019 when the pandemic was at its height.|
A Target location in San Francisco has been forced to place its inventory behind glass to combat shoplifting
Violent crimes across San Francisco have risen 7.5 per cent over the past three years
San Francisco saw a staggering 41 percent surge in the number of drug-related deaths in the first quarter of 2023
Devastating images taken last summer showed rows of tents lined up outside businesses, with the homeless sitting outside people’s front doors openly smoking illegal drugs and passing out on the asphalt in the middle of the day.
Small businesses attempting to recover from the pandemic have hit out at city officials for failing to tackle the problem, which they say is harming revenues.
The Castro Merchants Association said some of the homeless people in the streets outside their stores had been harassing customers and needed help.
Around 50 percent of small businesses in San Francisco remained closed last year, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, San Francisco had the highest overall crime rate of the 20 largest cities in the United States, recording 6,917 crimes per 100,000 population in 2019, according to the latest available FBI Unified Crime Report.
That was more than double the crime rates in New York and Los Angeles, and well above the rates in the next largest US cities: Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix.
