San Francisco supermarket installs metal exit gates to stop frequent shoplifters from raiding groceries amid spiraling opioid-fueled crime that has caused stores and people to flee the city
- A Safeway in Vallejo recently installed metal emergency exit gates in front of one of the entrances to deter shoplifters
- Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago, including large metal barriers across closed checkout lanes
- Several large businesses, including Gap and AT&T, have pulled out of the downtown as crime spikes in the Bay Area
A San Francisco supermarket desperate to slow the constant shoplifting in the crime-ridden city has installed giant metal barriers at exits to stop the thefts.
A Safeway grocery store in Vallejo recently added metal emergency exit gates in front of one of the entrances that warn an ‘alarm will sound’ if shoppers or shoplifters attempt to leave the building.
CBS reporter Betty Yu also said the Vallejo store closed a second entrance and other locations are following suit to deter thieves from stealing.
Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago, as one shopper took to Twitter to show one store going to the extreme, blocking off closed checkout lanes with large metal gates, as well as lining pathways leading out of the store with obstructions as well.
‘Bars everywhere, multiple security guards, you have to scan your receipt for the gate to open in order to exit, and if you don’t buy anything an employee has to open the gate to let you out,’ a Twitter user remarked in February about an Oakland Safeway store.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Safeway for comment.
A Safeway in Vallejo recently installed metal emergency exit gates in front of one of the entrances that warn an ‘alarm will sound’ if shoppers or shoplifters attempted to leave the building
Shoplifting and theft have been a huge problem in San Francisco has it becomes overrun with the homeless and drug addicts
San Francisco has greatly been impacted by major businesses packing their bags after the streets have been overtaken by the homeless and drug-addled, which has fueled a rise in crime.
Tourism is down by 16 percent from pre-pandemic levels and workers have abandoned their offices to work from home and stores are emptying out. In its place, some 7,000 homeless have descended on downtown areas and tourist traps.
San Francisco’s once bustling Union Square and downtown area is a shadow of its former self: rows of empty stores, sparse crowds even on peak weekend shopping days and nearby hotels – including a huge Hilton – unable to cover their mortgage payments.
The historic Flood Building, a survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, stands largely empty: Gap has gone along with nearly every other business in the property with the exception of a tired branch of Dr. Martens and an Urban Outfitters store offering 70 percent discounts.
An Oakland store installed gates on each checkout lane that is closed to stopped shoplifters
Gates and bars are also been set up near the entrances to force customers to go through checkout lanes to leave
Signs tell customers that an ‘alarm will sound’ if customers use the exit
On Market Street is the soon-to-be sold Westfield San Francisco Center – its doorways reeking of urine and every store staffed by hulking security guards. Westfield announced its planned departure on Monday and several occupants of the mall have already said they’ll follow.
Days later, AT&T announced its iconic flagship store around the corner at 1 Powell Street, one of the largest in the country, was to permanently close.
The local branch of Walgreens is boarded up, although still open, and was recently the scene of a fatal confrontation between a homeless trans woman and a security guard.
Ross Dress For Less and Saks Off 5th are operating a one-in, one-out system to deter thieves while Nordstrom Rack is closing down altogether in September – along with its sister Nordstrom and scores of other stores such as T-Mobile and Payless Shoes.
Edward Liu, 49, a local resident and hospital worker told DailyMail.com: ‘A lot of the stores are closing, a lot of hotels are shutting down. ‘You don’t get the numbers in downtown anymore because a lot of people are working from home.
‘The homeless don’t make people want to stay for sure – it’s just not very appealing.
Robbery is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent
‘They defecate, they urinate on the street. They do drugs on the street. The mayor isn’t doing anything and it’s been like this for a very long time.’
Commercial realtor Mark Ritchie told DailyMail.com that San Francisco had suffered particularly badly from the rise of remote working which has decimated footfall in the financial district and Union Square areas.
He said: ‘The office market in San Francisco is devastated. It’s had the most severe backlash from Covid and remote work because of how tech-oriented the economy in the Bay Area is.
‘San Francisco is one of the hardest cities to commute into downtown so the remote work crowd, there’s even more resistance.’
Robbery is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent.
