Nordstrom is closing two stores in San Francisco, including one at a major shopping mall, joining the list of retailers to cease operations in the crime-plagued city.
It shows that the city’s retail industry continues to suffer from a drop in foot traffic, rising operating costs, and security concerns.
Several retailers and office tenants had left San Francisco over the last three years, including H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Crate & Barrel, Whole Foods Market, and Walmart.
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San Francisco has experienced a steeper drop in retail sales than any other county in California.
Mayor London Breed has requested department heads prepare for cuts of up to 13 percent over the next two years to address the projected $780m budget shortfall.
The closures reflect the challenges facing merchants in key business districts across the US as consumers rethink spending plans in the face of concerns about an economic slowdown.
Its Nordstrom Rack store on Market Street will close on 1 July, and its mall department store at Westfield San Francisco Centre will close at the end of August.
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The company stated the change in market conditions that had affected foot traffic was a factor in the closures.
Nordstrom will continue to focus on the 16 nearby Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack locations, as well as online sales.
In a statement, Mayor Breed said that her office had been “in ongoing conversations” with the mall’s owner about issues including safety.
She noted that the police had responded to concerns by increasing their presence in the area.
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San Francisco has a lower violent crime rate than many other major US cities, but it has one of the highest property crime rates.
Robberies, motor vehicle thefts, and larceny thefts increased in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to police statistics, while homicides remained unchanged.
Nordstrom had already begun to thin out its larger-format department stores while increasing the presence of Nordstrom Rack, which sells items from the main stores at a discount.
Nordstrom, which operates 94 department stores in the US, closed its operations in Canada in March.
