Retail has undergone a tough past several years.
For the stores that actually survived the pandemic, financing was much harder to get a hold of as interest rates soared in an attempt to quell inflation. Plenty of companies that survived the initial onslaught of covid closures found it much harder to survive in a tighter economy and thus went under.
DON'T MISS: Here's what it's like at the most shoplifted Walgreens in the U.S.
Others found it difficult to survive not because of changes in monetary policy but rather because of a change in migration and foot traffic patterns. One of the cities which has had a particularly rough go of it has been San Francisco, whose workforce is primarily based around the tech and finance space.
Changes in work policies allow many employees affiliated with these fields flexible and able to work remotely from anywhere in the country, so long as they have a working internet connection.
This means that San Francisco has been going without the typical influx of workers and tourism it had been accustomed to in a pre-pandemic world. Offices and residential buildings lay vacant, foot traffic has fallen, municipal budgets are falling, and tax revenues are plumetting.
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San Francisco's boom is going bust
One of the biggest catalysts for San Francisco's decline has been a rise in crime. Inventory shrink is bad around the country, per Walmart, Target, and Home Depot, but some businesses say it's no longer viable to stay in San Francisco specifically.
Nearly two dozen stores have said they plan to pull up stakes and leave San Francisco as the crime issue remains unresolved. Some of these retailers include Old Navy, Banana Republic, Crate & Barrel, AmazonGo, Saks Off Fifth, Anthropologie and Office Depot. Walgreens has been chaining up some of its most stolen goods from heavily shoplifted stores to prevent theft from further cutting into its bottom line.
And now, Nordstrom (JWN) -) is planning to abandon its large retail presence in the city after nearly 30 years. The flagship store is a part of San Francisco's biggest mall – the former Westfield Mall, now San Francisco Centre – near the South of Market neighborhood of the large Pacific city.
"It is definitely partially due to the crime in the area. COVID had a big impact," a Nordstrom worker told ABC7 News.
Sales tax revenue is down 25% from Q1 2019 to the same period of 2023.
Some of the images from the now cordoned off mall are eerie.
"Nordstrom is leaving San Francisco for good. Like many other retailers, it is no longer able to do business in the crime-ridden city," Ian Miles Cheong wrote on Twitter with a video showing an dark Nordstrom with empty shelves.
Nordstrom is leaving San Francisco for good. Like many other retailers, it is no longer able to do business in the crime-ridden city. pic.twitter.com/IMsgrp0Ihz
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 28, 2023
"End of an era: Nordstrom at Westfield officially closed at 5 pm after 30+ years on Market Street Back in May, a spokesperson for Westfield mall and its owner said: 'The planned closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco,'" CBS News Bay Area reporter Betty Yu wrote.
End of an era: Nordstrom at Westfield officially closed at 5 pm after 30+ years on Market Street
— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) August 28, 2023
Back in May, a spokesperson for Westfield mall and its owner said:
"The planned closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco.” @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/Y2d6Xu27nn
The Nordstrom officially closed its doors for business on Sunday. It had been open since October 1988 and was 312,000 square feet with five floors on the San Francisco Centre mall. Nordstrom had announced the store would close back in May.
