Whole Foods to close San Francisco flagship store after a year due to crime – Daily News
Jordan Warinski
A giant Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco that only opened last year is closing temporarily. The company said rampant crime in the area forced it to close.
A Whole Foods spokesperson said the roughly 65,000-square-foot store at Trinity Place in the city’s Mid-Market district closed Monday to “ensure the safety” of its employees. Although it did not share additional information about the circumstances leading up to the outbreak, a spokesperson added, “It was a difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being.”
The Eighth Avenue and Market Street stores will not be open on Tuesday, a spokesperson said. The store’s website has also disappeared.
Known as the “flagship store” after opening in March 2022, Whole Foods was one of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco. According to a news release, the store he sold 3,700 local products and was designed to be a “nod to old San Francisco.”
San Francisco Standard, independent news sitethis Whole Foods location reportedly cut hours last year due to theft and changed bathrooms after employees found syringes and pipes.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Member Matt Dorsey said on Twitter He was “incredibly disappointed” by the closure.
“Our neighborhood has been waiting for this supermarket for a long time, but we are also familiar with the problems they experienced with drug-related retail theft, the adjacent drug market, and the many safety issues associated with them. I know.
Property crime in San Francisco has received national attention for the following reasons. some attention-grabbing videos of a thief in action. Although well below 2017 levels, the city saw property crimes increase by 23% between 2020 and 2022. San Francisco police data.
Meanwhile, San Francisco’s violent crime statistics have remained relatively stable in recent years. Preliminary police data shows 12 homicides were reported in San Francisco this year, a 20% increase from the same period last year. In total, there will be 56 murders in San Francisco in 2022. That’s the same number of murders in San Francisco in 2021.
In recent months, retailers across the country have theft complaint affect location. The chain has taken action by locking up everyday items such as deodorant and toothpaste and adding security guards. But Walgreens executives recently The theft may have been exaggerated.
Cotopaxi’s San Francisco store was temporarily closed in October 2022, citing theft and employee safety, and reopened in mid-November.
Davis Smith, CEO of Cotopaxi, said: LinkedIn The Post said at the time that “massive thefts and raids” had put store employees at risk. He said he regretted what happened.
“Some people were offended by my post, others politicized store closures (because unfortunately these are the times we live in),” Smith wrote. Let me tell you, we didn’t expect our decision to close our Hays Valley store to become embroiled in political discourse.”
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/04/11/whole-foods-closes-san-francisco-flagship-store-after-one-year-citing-crime/ Whole Foods to close San Francisco flagship store after a year due to crime – Daily News