More Businesses Leaving Crime-Ridden San Francisco

More businesses leaving crime-ridden San Francisco, with Nordstrom announcing it is closing its stores.

By Eileen Griffin

High-end retailer Nordstrom announced it is closing its two stores in San Francisco.

Over 350 employees will lose their jobs at Nordstrom, The Post Millennial reports. The Nordstrom Rack on Market Street is expected to close on July 1, while the mall location is slated for closure at the end of August.

Crime Caused Exit

The decision was made to exit the San Francisco market due to the excessive crime. Retail thefts are at an all-time high with no improvement expected.

A mall spokesperson said in a statement that the situation in San Francisco is “deteriorating,” ABC 7 News reported.

“The planned closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco,” the spokesperson said. “A growing 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 preventing an economic recovery of the area.”

‘Retail Apocalypse’

Retail businesses are struggling for survival in San Francisco due to the high crime rates, The San Francisco Standard reported.

Crime has taken its toll on businesses that declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tilly Armstrong reported in the Daily Mail.

“Nordstrom is one of a host of retailers which have been hit by the so-called ‘retail apocalypse’ gripping the country,” Armstrong wrote. In San Francisco, “A host of major chains, including Whole Foods, Brooks Brothers and Office Depot have also shuttered stores, with a disturbing report showing 95 retailers downtown—more than half the total—have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic.”

‘Community Ambassadors’

San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) has committed two police officers to cover the mall and has assigned “community ambassadors” to the area to improve public safety.

Many Democrat-run cities such as Portland, Seattle, and Houston, are losing businesses due to the huge surge in crime, as Heartland Daily News previously reported. Chicago lost four of its eight Walmart stores in April. These cities have been particularly hard hit due to soft-on-crime policies.

The National Retail Federation’s retail survey listed San Francisco/Oakland as the second worst area for theft in 2022, the Fox Business channel reported.

“San Francisco has been particularly badly affected—with rampant crime leaving numerous downtown retailers throwing up their hands and moving out,” Armstrong wrote.

Prop 47 ‘Opened the Gates’

Under Proposition 47, the California initiative passed in 2014, theft under $950 is a misdemeanor. Criminals stealing under that amount are no longer be pursued by police or prosecuted, San Diego News Desk reported. Anyone caught stealing items under a total of $950 would be issued a citation to come to court. No arrest is made.

Shortly after the policy change, theft began rising dramatically. Thieves could walk out of stores with armloads of products with little or no consequence. Stores began shortening hours or closing completely in response to the losses.

“Many of the stores that have been forced to close have been franchises, meaning they are owned and operated by an individual or a family,” reported the, San Diego News Desk. “Every time a thief walks out of the store with nearly $1,000 worth of merchandise the only people hurt are the business owners struggling to stay afloat after COVID.”

“There’s no deterrent in the state of California to discourage theft at this point,” Retired police officer and security consultant, Mike Leininger, told NBC Bay Area. “They basically opened the gates to theft,” Leininger said. “And you are seeing that in stores that are closing, chains that are lowering the number of stores under the guise of financial constraints or reasons.”