San Fran exodus continues: Century-old boutique becomes the latest business to close down in crime-ridden city

A century-old hat boutique has become the latest casualty of the so-called 'retail apocalypse' gripping downtown San Francisco.

Goorin Bros. haberdashery was founded in 1895, and specializes in a vast collection of classic fedoras and other hats.

The company has joined a host of stores shutting in San Francisco's Union Square, amid widespread crime and plummeting footfall.

'It's never an easy decision but it was time,' a company representative wrote in a statement. 'There are a number of reasons I'm sure but really it was our smallest location and there’s just been a shift in business plan/direction over the last few years.'

The company has a number of stores across the country, including one in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.

Goorin Bros. opened the store, on Geary Street, in 2008, alongside another location on Haight Street which shuttered in 2020.

A sales associate at the North Beach location told the San Francisco Chronicle that store workers were mostly kept in the dark about the closure - and did not know if it was permanent.

It comes as a growing number of stores have fled the area - as widespread theft and homelessness has meant that even candy has to be locked up in stores.

Westfield shopping center announced it had stopped making mortgage payments last month due to crime and tanking sales - defaulting on its $558million loan and handing it back to the lender.

This was sparked by the decision from Nordstrom, the mall's anchor tenant, to close next month - which Westfield blamed in large part on 'unsafe conditions' and a 'lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity'.

Perhaps a real reporter will begin to observe, investigate, and interview the businesses that actually remain open for business. What on Earth is the reason(s) you are NOT closing/moving your business? History, tradition, and/or promises made to loved ones is all well and good. Safety (especially for staff) , and some kind of profit, will be the real determining factors.

There is a jewelry store in Santa Monica that is by-appointment only. The doors are always locked. Perhaps, in democRAT-run cities this will become the model for every retail owner. Or, no one ever enters the store. You tell a clerk at a window what you want to purchase, and they ‘fill up’ your bag (only after you pay money does the bag leave the store).

Browsing in person through big box stores began to die before the Plandemic. The lock down just accelerated the transition to home delivery of just about anything.

There is a Safeway Grocery Store near our home. For quite a while they were paying police to be in the store and parking lot. There was also private security. They ceased paying the police, but found a much better private security company that seem to know what they are doing.

Also, some people permanently confined to wheelchairs recently used the ADA (American Disability Act) to clear out some large homeless encampments. Under large freeway overpasses, the homeless had occupied all of the sidewalks. These are wide sidewalks, but the wheelchairs could not navigate to get their regular appointments, shopping for food, etc. They sued, and in one single night at least six large encampments were swept away. They must have used those high-power, pressure washers. By the morning there was no evidence that they had ever pitched a tent or lean-to. Apparently, the Homeless Industrial Complex is still not as powerful as the ADA.

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