Whole Foods Market has announced that it will shut down its San Francisco downtown stores amid rising poverty rates, drug use, and crime.
It will be closing its downtown San Francisco location just about one year after opening it.
Fox Business reports that the company said it would temporarily shut down its stores on Eighth and Market streets to deal with the rising crime problem in and around the stores.
A spokesperson for the company said: We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being. They followed up with: If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.
The San Francisco Standard reported that the increase in crime and the amount of drug use around the store had led the company to decide to shut down the store rather than continue trying to operate this location where it is now. Many small businesses in the area have had to shut down as the site continues to fall off a cliff.
The San Francisco Standard also reports that San Francisco is experiencing a significant budgetary shortfall of approximately $800 million. According to one of the managers who worked there, the Whole Foods store on Market Street had already cut its operating hours after an uptick in theft and other issues in October. That manager also reported that the store had to change its bathroom rules after discovering syringes and pipes in November.
During the March 2022 opening of the store, the company referred to this location as its flagship store. However, they have seen a lot of issues, even keeping it open at all among the rising rates of crime and the problems of drug use and more in the area.
Fox Business reports that just hours before the store closed, the shelves were still full of food, and workers were still working on stocking those shelves.
Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey tweeted that he was incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Markets Whole Foods.
He wrote: Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but were also well aware of problems theyve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them.
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