Posted on 05/30/2023 11:12:49 AM PDT by Twotone
An Old Navy employee is speaking out about the out-of-control crime in downtown San Francisco that resulted in the company making its recent decision to permanently shutter the store location on Market Street, following in the footsteps of Nordstrom, Whole Foods, T-Mobile, and a whole host of other business.
In an interview with CBS News, the worker detailed the rampant shoplifting and violence towards staff that employees were forced to deal with on a daily basis.
"They're (shoplifters) there every day. When I'm on the floor walking around I would say at least 12, 14 during the day," the worker who wished to remain anonymous told the network. "It's really bad because it's downtown San Francisco and it's really out of control."
"I recognize a lot of them and they're just super comfortable, sometimes they'll take two or three mesh bags at a time, and that sometimes is $2,000 worth of stuff," the Old Navy employee explained.
The worker said that the increase in shoplifting and other criminal activity has exponentially worsed within the past year, and explained that Old Navy's flagship store, which is set to permanently close on July 1, was hit by thieves 22 times in the past two days, according to CBS News.
On Saturday, Old Navy released a statement announcing the company's decision to shutter its doors in downtown San Francisco, which has been on Market Street for more than three decades, according to New York Post.
"Old Navy is always evaluating its real estate portfolio to ensure a healthy fleet of stores that can provide the best possible experience for our customers,” Gap Inc. said, which owns retailers that include Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta. Since our Market Street store opened in the 1990s, the way we leverage flagship locations has changed."
"As a result, we have taken the difficult decision to close our Market Street store when the lease expires, and we are already working to identify new locations in downtown San Francisco that will better serve the needs of the business and our customers," the statement continued.
While the retailer did not disclose in the statement whether or not the increase in crime led to the decision to close the downtown location, the employee made it clear that it was a contributing factor as workers "no longer feel safe" at the store.
"I feel I'm not as safe as I should be," the employee said. "I've seen one guy carry a hammer before, so you don't know what these people's intentions are when they're trying to steal, and I feel like sometimes my life could be in jeopardy."
"I was sad for awhile, because I do love the store, I do love my team... other than that, I'm kind of glad that they're closing, because I don't feel like fearing for my life every single day that I work there," they said. "I just hope that it can get back to normal the way that it used to be when people were out shopping, having fun, with their families." San Francisco Mayor London Breed has publicly claimed that the mass exodus of businesses in the city are not due to the increase in crime, but rather the changing directory between retailers and consumers.
Following Old Navy's announcement, Mayor Breed said on Friday that this "is not about the issues and the conditions, this is about the changes to retail. And that's just where we are at this time. And it's time for us to make some adjustments to that."
"The city is growing and expanding, but not in the traditional Financial District 9 to 5 ways, or retail shop in the various mall things that the young people used to do," Breed said, who added that the city will start to see a financial comback following artificial intelligence companies $15.6 billion dollars in investment in the city.
In recent months, Nordstrom, Whole Foods, T-Mobile, Walgreens, and Saks OFF 5th, all have announced their departures, citing rampant retail theft, violence from homeless vagrants, and loss of foot traffic as residents refuse to shop in the once-beloved city.
(”They’re (shoplifters) there every day. When I’m on the floor walking around I would say at least 12, 14 during the day,”)
For most of them, it appears to be a way of life.
Steal, sell on eBay or Craigslist.
Or to their buddies for cash or EBT cards. 💳💳💳
With all these stores closing, Amazon and UPS drivers will soon become targets.
(In recent months, Nordstrom, Whole Foods, T-Mobile, Walgreens, and Saks OFF 5th, all have announced their departures, citing rampant retail theft, violence from homeless vagrants, and loss of foot traffic as residents refuse to shop in the once-beloved city.)
Keep voting Democrat, San Nan Fransicko!!
It’s working!!
Detroitificatin of SF is nearly complete.
Such a shame. I stayed in the Drake Hotel on Union Square years ago. It was an old but very high class hotel.
Now you can’t walk out of that place without getting mugged while stepping in a pile of sh*t.
Probably will never go to SF again.
Detroit is much better than SF, they are actually starting to turn it around.
These store owners don’t like to do equity-sharing/wealth-sharing, democrat style?
Heck, it’s a form of reparations.
Californians need to get used to it, and normalize crime, which is not really crime in the parlance of democrats.
It’s a new way of life. So get used to it or get out.
The stores are just losing money from what the shoplifters steal, they are losing customers because the customers are afraid of the location.
From what I saw two weeks ago, I also predict Macys, Bloomingdales, and Target are next. And most likely the whole Westfield mall and the Metreon. I was struck by the emptiness of all of them. In some case also the sparsity of merchandise.
The collapse of retail and restaurants in the area is not good news for convention business in Moscone center either.
She’s in denial. It’s mostly about the fact that tourists, convention-goers and locals don’t set foot in your fetid downtown shopping districts, precisely because of the conditions.
Then China swoops in and buys it all up for pennies on the dollar.
Where Breed (and others) are very wrong, is that it is the retail street-front businesses that made San Francisco so nice to live in (If you are into city living at all). Retail means more than tourists, it means residential living for middle and upper class folks. Good activities going on. Enjoyable atmosphere.
I guess that is pretty much history now. The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 did less damage to the city than Democrat policies have done!
“Now you can’t walk out of that place without getting mugged while stepping in a pile of sh*t.”
This is not true IMHO. I was just there. It looked perfectly clean and the homeless looked way more pathetic than dangerous. The problem is that all the shopping is going away, and without that...
The liberals I know just say its fake news. How do you counter that?
This says all you need to know. Would you feel safe shopping in that area? Or would you go somewhere else where drug-crazed armed zombies are non-existent?
I suggest the mayor should walk the length of Market Street, unaccompanied by guards and assistants, and open her eyes to the truth. Bad city policies led to retail establishments fleeing the area. Coddle and cater to the criminals, ignore and endanger the taxpayers. Not good at all, democrats are evil.
In residential areas streetfront retail looks just fine.
West Portal, Cole Valley, etc., they seem healthy enough.
Downtown is the real disaster.
One place that does look bad too (or worse than usual), is the Mission, between 16th an 24th St stations. A heck of a lot of closed storefronts where I didn’t expect it. This was a gentrifying area.
I didn’t get to Stonestown mall. That would be a place to watch.
The wondrous technology spawned by the silicon chip has made central business locations largely obsolete. That same technology is wired into amazing automated warehouses. Combined with highly efficient delivery services, retail shopping is optional to most buyers. Given the crime , filth, high taxes and Democrat mismanagement, most decent, rational people avoid cities. Eventually even the hypocritical wealthy will be smoked out of their urban cocoons.
Oh C’mon, go ahead and let them steal all your stuff and put you out of business. At least you won’t have to hurt any black people’s feelings. Isn’t that all you wokesters really care about anyway?
I caught a shoplifter where I work and was thanked by management. Even though the company presses charges against every shoplifter it is of course up to the police and local DA to do anything about it.
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