Nordstrom, the luxury goods chain, will close its two stores in San Francisco, Calif., due to a rise in crime that has made it dangerous and difficult to do business in the city.
One of the stores is in the Westfield mall, which will close at the end of August, and the other is a Nordstrom Gallery downtown, which will close on July 1, the paper reported. San Francisco Standard.
The company’s director of stores informed employees in an email that “the dynamics of the market in downtown San Francisco have changed dramatically in recent years, impacting the flow of customers into our stores and our ability to operate successfully.”
Crime and homelessness concerns were not cited as motivating factors, but they have plagued San Francisco for many months. The company that owns the Westfield mall, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, told the publication that the department store’s departure from the city “underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco.”
“An increasing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are impeding the area’s economic recovery,” the representative said.
Rodamco-Westfield added that it had been pleading with local leaders for years to crack down on illegality, which has stifled trade and heightened the insecurity of tourism.
As Nordstrom leaves San Francisco, it is expanding to other cities across the state, opening five new stores, as mentioned in the release.
A spokesman for the London Breed mayor’s office said the city had implemented several public safety measures, such as placing two police officers inside the Westfield shopping center, as well as community “ambassadors” in the borough.
“The city worked with the [Westfield] to approve an office allocation and plan to reduce Nordstrom’s square footage and bring offices onto the property. This plan went through the Planning Commission, but no other measures were taken in this plan”, said the spokesman to the vehicle. “Westfield then started talking about other options for redevelopment. The city is eager to receive a concrete plan from them that we could explore, however, they never brought anything back to us for review.”
In April, Whole Foods [rede de supermercados de alimentos orgânicos, mais caros] in downtown San Francisco closed its doors just a year after opening due to deteriorating street conditions, particularly increased drug use and crime in the vicinity. A spokesperson for Whole Foods told the San Francisco Standard that the store could not guarantee the safety of employees.
Just a week before this announcement, the founder of CashApp [aplicativo de pagamentos], Bob Lee, was fatally stabbed in the city. Recent violence against other prominent figures includes incidents where cycling champion Ethan Boyes was hit by a car, causing his death, and former fire commissioner Don Carmignani was brutally hit in the head with a pipe by a homeless person, though he survived.
©2023 National Review. Published with permission. Original in English.
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