Anthropologie and Office Depot join the exodus of San Francisco stores

Anthropologie and Office Depot have joined the mass exodus of San Francisco stores as a total of 17 stores have already packed their bags and left the city via the bay.

The Market Street Anthropologie will close on May 13, the San Francisco Chronicle. As a result, the store will no longer have a location in the city.

Office Depot, located on Third Street, will also close, an employee confirmed Tuesday, but the exact closing date is unknown. The store has a larger store on Geary Boulevard, which will not close.

The two stores join a growing list of now 17 stores that have moved out of the coastal city’s Union Square neighborhood, including H&M, Marshall’s, Gap and Banana Republic, among others.

Despite official reports that San Francisco’s crime rate is on the decline, a former district attorney said this month that the city’s liberal district attorney’s decision not to prosecute many crimes skewed those numbers.

Office Depot, located on Third Street, (pictured) will also close, an employee confirmed Tuesday, but the exact closing date is unknown

Gap was the first to announce its departure in August 2020, followed shortly by H&M and Marshall’s. As the years progressed, more and more stores slowly retreated.

Union Square has had a hard time bouncing back from the pandemic as shoppers have failed to return to the once-popular retail location.

San Francisco as a whole is struggling to recover as the city’s residents continue to battle a crime epidemic, most recently brought to light with the murder of Cash App CEO Bob Lee and the brutal broad daylight attack on the former fire commissioner of the city.

While crime is down nearly eight percent compared to the same time last year, stores have started locking up merchandise.

A Target store in San Francisco has put its entire assortment under lock and key.

A video posted to TikTok on April 20 shows all the items locked up for customers.

According to geotagged images, some products at the Folsom Street store had been behind glass since at least October last year, WNCT reported.

The two stores join a growing list of now 17 stores that have moved out of the coastal city’s Union Square neighborhood, including H&M, Marshall’s, Gap and Banana Republic, among others.

Although crime has decreased, compared to the same time last night, shops have started to lock up merchandise and pack their bags to avoid the rampant crime

A spokesperson for Target told MailOnline: “Like other retailers, organized retail crime is a concern across our business. We take proactive measures to keep our teams and guests safe while deterring and preventing theft. These mitigation efforts include hiring additional security guards, adding third-party surveillance services at selected locations, and using new technologies and tools to protect assets from theft.

“We are working with legislators, law enforcement and retail partners to support government policies that would help meet our goals of creating a safe environment in our stores and keeping our doors open in communities across the country .’

In addition, one of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco closed just a year after opening due to widespread drug use, theft and aggressive behavior towards employees.

A Target, located on Folsom Street, has many items stored behind glass

Organic food giant Whole Foods opened a new ‘flagship’ location on Trinity Place in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood in March 2022, but closed after a year

A Whole Foods spokesperson declared the store closed last night over concerns for staff safety amid rampant drug use, theft and aggressive behavior in the area (Photo: Homeless people consume drugs in street encampments in downtown SF)

Organic food giant Whole Foods opened a new “flagship” location on Trinity Place in the city’s Tenderloin District in March 2022, hoping to revive visitor numbers after two years of draconian COVID-19 restrictions that have placed businesses in severely affected the area.

But a Whole Foods spokesperson declared the store closed last night due to staff safety concerns. “We are closing only our Trinity location for now,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”

That’s what a source at City Hall told me The San Francisco standard the company cited deteriorating street conditions surrounding drug use and crime near the store as the driving factors behind the closure.

Industry groups have noted the problem with theft, with the National Retail Federation saying organized retail crime is costing stores about $100 billion a year, according to a survey of 2022.

In 2021, retailers saw a 27 percent increase in theft by organized crime gangs, the study found. To address the problem, they invested more money in safety and security measures to protect employees, customers and goods.