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April 14, 2023: The Whole Foods Market in Downtown San Francisco closed just 13 months after its opening. The store reduced operating hours due to high theft since last October, which may have contributed to its ultimate closure. A spokesperson for Whole Foods said that they would be closing their Trinity location for the time being and will only consider reopening if they can ensure the safety of their team members in the store.
Matt Dorsey, the city supervisor for the area, said that he would introduce new legislation with Supervisor Catherine Stefani to amend the City Charter to get the Police Department fully staffed within five years. Whole Foods Market is located in Dorsey’s District, and it is hoped that increased police presence will help to reduce crime rates in the area.
The Whole Foods Market is 65,000 square feet and opened in March 2020 at the pandemic’s beginning. Some attribute the problem to the lack of foot traffic in the downtown area after the pandemic started. According to a report in the SF paper, there is an idea to convert vacant downtown office space into thousands of student housing units.
San Francisco has been hurt by organized crime. Many retail companies, including Walgreens and Walmart, have closed units there because of high theft and hostile visitors. New bathroom rules were effective last November after syringes and pipes were found in restrooms.
VMSD reported that Walmart closed two stores in Portland in March, the final two locations in that city. A clothing store called Raind PDX also closed in that city. Small businesses, as well as larger ones, cannot sustain doing business in the city’s current state. “We have no protection or recourse against the criminal behaviour that goes unpunished,” states a letter posted on the company’s closed store. “Our city is in peril.”
