Dozens of retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the pandemic's onset in 2020.
John Blanchard / The ChronicleThe pandemic took a heavy toll on San Francisco’salready struggling retailers,with dozens shuttering in the city’s downtown core since 2020 as office workers fled the area and shopping moved increasingly online.
Closures hit some of the biggest merchants in the world, including Amazon, CVS and Walgreens, as well as beloved small businesses that were dependent on office workers such as 22-year-old newstand Fog City News and 32-year-old Alexander Book Co.
This map details the economic devastation that has left the city with widespread empty storefronts.
Shelter-in-place orders closed non-essential businesses or limited in-person shopping for months in 2020. Remote work and a6.3% plungein San Francisco residents in the first year of the pandemic, the worst of any U.S. city on a percentage basis, made downtown a ghost town and battered local sales tax revenue.
Though the pandemic has receded, a slew of additional challenges have piled up. High inflation, supply chain challenges, a labor shortage and widespread corporate cost-cutting have made it difficult for businesses of all kinds to survive. Remote work has endured, suggesting the current San Francisco downturn is a structural change, not just one tied to one economic cycle, and raising fears of a“doom loop.”
About a quarter of storefrontsare vacant in Union Square,the city’s premier shopping district, though that’s improved fromaround 35% vacancy last fall.
Retailers say public safety, retail theft and homelessness have emerged as central issues they face while city officials debate how to address each challenge. Thetemporary closure of the city’s largest Whole Foodsat 8th and Market streets this month made headlines around the world, with the Amazon-owned grocer citing safety concerns. The Chronicle reported that shoppers witnessed rampant theft and thedeath of a person who overdosedon fentanyl and methamphetamine in a store bathroom. In 2021, downtown luxury retailers Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Bloomingdale’s and others were ransacked in one night of looting.
Retailers have long complained about San Francisco’s lengthy and complex permitting process as well. In North Beach, Chinatown and Hayes Valley, all downtown-adjacent neighborhoods, chain stores are banned unless exemptions are granted. Mayor London Breed and other city officials have sought tostreamline permittingand allow more flexible uses around retail space, but some store owners have said more needs to be done.
The city begancollecting a taxon vacant retail spaces last year, and it remains to be seen if the burden will push more landlords to find or negotiate with tenants.
Reach Roland Li: roland.li@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @rolandlisf, Reach Adriana Rezal: adriana.rezal@sfchronicle.com
