Whole Foods Supermarket in San Francisco Closing Just a Year After Opening Due to Soaring Crime

 

A Whole Foods supermarket in San Francisco that opened just a year ago is already closing due to crime and public drug use in the area.

The people who work at the store do not feel it’s a safe work environment.

When will the people in this city say enough is enough?

The San Francisco Standard reports:

Downtown San Francisco Whole Foods Closing a Year After Opening

One of the largest supermarkets in Downtown San Francisco—the Whole Foods Market at Eighth and Market streets—intends to shut down at the close of business Monday just a little more than a year after the store opened, company officials told The Standard.

“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”

A City Hall source told The Standard the company cited deteriorating street conditions around drug use and crime near the grocery store as a reason for its closure.

Since the start of the pandemic, Downtown has suffered a massive loss in foot traffic due to remote work and many small businesses have shuttered. Fears of a “doom loop” in which a cascade of negative financial impacts compound have spread across the city. City Hall officials currently expect a nearly $800 million deficit in San Francisco’s budget.

One idea recently floated to confront the crisis is converting vacant Downtown office space into thousands of units of student housing.

The beleaguered grocery store on Market Street slashed its operating hours due to “high theft” and hostile visitors in October last year, according to one of the store’s managers. And in November, the store enforced new bathroom rules after syringes and pipes were found in the restroom.

What happens when there are no more places to shop?