The doom loop in San Francisco, created entirely crazy Progressive policies, as enacted by crazy Progressive voters, continues
Nordstrom closes San Francisco store on grim note amid naked mannequins, empty display cases
Nordstrom’s San Francisco flagship, which for decades occupied crucial real estate at the San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street, closed its doors Sunday.
The last days of the high-end store known for its shoes and its service were grim; ABC7 on a recent visit captured images of empty display cases and stacks of naked mannequins and interviewed an employee — whose worn black sneakers were the only part of him in the shot to protect his identity — speaking darkly about crime in the city’s once-vibrant shopping district.
The store’s closing has prompted yet another round of hand-wringing about the future of downtown San Francisco. Since the pandemic sent tech workers home by the thousands, with some never to return, foot traffic in the area has plummeted. Stores have closed in droves. The retail vacancy rate in the city was 6% in the first quarter of 2023, the highest in the city since 2006, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm.
In announcing the closure of Nordstrom this spring, Jamie Nordstrom, the company’s chief stores officer, said “the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully.”
That would be the dynamics of changing consumer purchasing, where they can simply buy online, combined with a city, and especially a downtown area, that is dangerous, plus poop, urine, and drug needles in the streets. Plus all the homeless walking around, the high potential for having one’s car either broken into or stolen, and then all the retail theft at stores, which have seen their insurance costs skyrocket.
“We know we need to combat the issues around crime and public safety and affordability and transportation,” Mayor London Breed told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But I am optimistic about the future, because what we are seeing in San Francisco is something like nothing else before. We have the possibility to be whatever we want to be.”
That’s what she said in the spring when Nordstrom said they would be closing their doors. A few months later what, exactly, has the city done? Crime is just as bad. People do not feel safe, particularly in the downtown area. Heck, even the federal government has employees working from home rather than in their downtown office. And the tax base is disappearing. If citizens have an issue, they only have to look at themselves for continuing to vote for the same type of Progressive wackos for decades.
San Francisco restaurant bans armed officers, police union responds
A San Francisco restaurant is feuding with police on social media after the business implemented a policy that bans armed officers from entering.
Reem’s California announced the policy in an Instagram post on Friday, saying the reason is to have a “deep commitment to uplifting social and racial justice in our communities.”
Reem’s is a bakery. Completely shooting themselves in the foot banning cops in uniform with guns. Do they think the cops who are off-duty will go there? Will cops bother patrolling near the restaurant? Will they be interested in showing up fast if they get robbed? If Reem’s wants to push their virtue signaling, well, the consequences are on them.
And further down in the People’s Republik Of California
(LA Times) Police from multiple agencies swarmed the Del Amo Fashion Center on Sunday afternoon after a brawl among juveniles, with possible gunfire, drew a massive crowd of underage onlookers.
Around 4 p.m., Torrance police received a call reporting “a large crowd of juveniles fighting among themselves” at the Carson Street shopping mall, said Torrance Police Sgt. Ron Salary.
It’s unclear exactly how many people were fighting, but police estimate there were a thousand juveniles watching.
“It’s really not clear why they showed up at that location,” Salary said. “Because of the size of the crowd, when officers arrived, they asked for assistance from neighboring agencies.”
Why they showed up? Because they knew they could get away with it, and any who actually got pinched would be completely released.
Police also reported a large brawl among juveniles in the Bay Area city of Emeryville on Sunday afternoon.
Around 4:30 p.m., according to the Emeryville Police Department, about 50 young people caused a disturbance inside a store at the Bay Street Mall and had to be escorted out.
About an hour later, police said, 200 to 250 young people gathered at the mall, and several fights broke out near the courtyard. A gun was fired near Bay Street and Ohlone Way, though no one was reported hurt. Near Elm Street, a juvenile was stabbed, and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening wounds.
“Youths.”
So, does Reems deny entry and service to civilians who enter, packing concealed weapons? No, of course not, because those weapons are concealed, and the staff (supposedly) don’t know about them.
They should know that armed officers protect places like theirs.
Their anti-human rights activism is more important than their fear of crime. It is as if they are unaware of the history of the “cops eating donuts” stereotype. Winchels donuts chain in southern California was experiencing a high (higher than they wanted) frequency of late night robberies. so they offered free donuts and coffee to police in uniform. Police started hanging out in donut shops. Robberies dropped to zero.
It is as if they believe getting robbed is their civic duty and higher costs in insurance, employee turnover and potential loss of live is just “cost of doing business”.
Retail vacancy rate of 6%? That isn’t that bad. YouTube videos are claiming it is a lot worse with statements like “EVERYTHING IS CLOSED”. Is that rate by percentage of number of businesses or percentage of retail square feet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV7F9YNxmWE
Maybe Frisco should buy up the empty storefronts and fill them up with cots and porta-potties. :-)
As an aside… the cops & donuts thing goes back to the cop on the beat. Bakeries were the only places open so early where they could warm up. Here in MI a historic family owned bakery was closing when the owner wanted to retire. Local cops got together and bought it. It’s now “Cops and Donuts”