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While walking through the San Francisco Centre might feel like a complete ghost town, Bloomingdale's was bustling with shoppers looking for deals as the store offers 70% off before shuttering for good. Downtown San Francisco's ghostly and 'depressing' mall clears out, shoppers find deals | 2:21 ABC7 News Bay Area | 593K subscribers | 333,649 views | April 3, 2025

The hollowing out of U.S. cities’ office and commercial cores is a national trend with serious consequences for millions of Americans. As more people have stayed home following the COVID-19 pandemic, foot traffic has fallen. Major retail chains are closing stores, and even prestigious properties are having a hard time retaining tenants. The shuttering of a Whole Foods market after only a year in downtown San Francisco in May 2023 received widespread coverage. Even more telling was the high-end department store Nordstrom’s decision to close its flagship store there in August after a 35-year run. In New York City, office...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed lost her reelection bid Thursday night to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie following years in which the liberal city struggled with sky-high crime and deteriorating quality of life.Breed, whose tenure began in 2017, said she called Lurie, a venture capitalist, to concede the election two days after voters went to the polls in the rank-choice election...An ongoing drug crisis has killed hundreds of people while crime, including relentless shoplifting and property crime, has diminished the quality of life for residents and frustrated businesses.Homeless encampments also became a familiar and heartbreaking sight under Breed...Lurie, 47, warned...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, the first black woman elected to the job, is facing defeat after early returns showed Levi’s heir Daniel Lurie with a commanding lead in the 2024 election. Politico reported: Early returns show her trailing far behind Daniel Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit founder, who far outspent the incumbent using his personal wealth and blamed Breed for the city’s problems with homelessness, brazen theft and drug overdoses. He leads with 56 percent of the vote using the city’s ranked-choice voting system, while Breed has 44 percent. It’s a dismal showing for Breed, a moderate...