‘Flagship’ San Francisco Complete Meals Closes Solely One 12 months In; Cites Excessive Crime, Rampant Medicine
One of San Francisco’s largest remaining supermarkets, the flagship Whole Foods on 8th and Market, closed Monday after just a year in business without warning at the end of business, citing high crime and drug use in the area.
For several years, both large chains and small businesses have been abandoning San Francisco, either closing permanently or relocating outside of the city. For small businesses, some have left the area entirely, moving out of the state or to other areas of the state. For example, in recent years, Walgreens has closed more and more of its stores in the city because of a tremendous amount of crime going on in its stores. High-end stores have also cited burglaries and crime as top reasons for leaving. And just last month, Amazon announced that all of its Amazon Go stores in the city would also be closing.
While high rental costs and other factors were cited as the main reason, a lack of customers visiting the stores because many avoided downtown crime was also a factor in the decision, leading to renewed crime.
While the vast majority of these stores leaving town predated the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the closure of Whole Foods was particularly surprising given that it only opened last year. In March 2022, the press release celebrating the opening of Whole Foods was jubilant, with the company even calling it its “flagship” store for the region. But shortly after the opening, it quickly got dark. The emptying of downtown businesses due to rental costs and the rise of home working regulations have reduced scheduled foot traffic. In addition, the store became a magnet for criminals, homeless people, drug addicts and others who routinely stole from the store. Although the store had its own security service, the situation proved overwhelming and, with the SFPD being understaffed, getting people arrested in a timely manner proved daunting.
Many measures have been taken to suppress the high crime rate. Shop opening hours have been shortened to not include the evening hours. The bathrooms were made for shop customers only, with drug addicts using drugs in the bathrooms. More security was added as more violent situations arose. But all of this proved futile as the store lost more and more stolen products every month, including all 250 stolen shopping carts.
Flagship Whole Foods is closing, having only opened in March 2022
“Yeah, all this news isn’t exaggerating,” Whole Foods regular Amon Hardy told the Globe on Monday. “I go in, or should I say I went in there, two to three times a week. At least once a week someone seemed to be trying to steal something. They would just grab something and then run like hell. Sometimes when I went in or out the security had someone and they would always yell about the high prices or cost of living there. And the worst thing is that people there always seemed to side with the stealing person as they defended them and yelled at security to let them go.”
Another regular, Janice Mueller, added: “Theft was common but I always remember the drug users there. I recently stopped walking because I saw someone on something just slowly descending in front of me after they took something and I had to physically walk around them. I mean, when this place opened, it really was like any other Whole Foods out there. And it went so downhill and I just got used to it. Then I visited my sister in LA and went to one there. I mean, there wasn’t even security there. In L.A. No bathroom codes. Nothing. Night and day. Going back felt like a big blow.”
A third longtime customer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Everyone just assumed that because they are such a big, fancy grocery store, Whole Foods would cover those costs. But look how they took advantage of that. I saw people move against security and the police trying to stop this. That’s why San Francisco can’t have nice things.”
Finally, on Monday, Whole Foods announced that the store was closing indefinitely, with employees there reassessing whether they can reopen in the future.
“We are closing our Trinity location for now,” Whole Foods said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in store, we will consider reopening our Trinity location.”
Many local officials and legislators were also surprised by the announcement, promising to increase policing and improve public safety to encourage business and many others to return to the city.
“I’m incredibly disappointed but sadly not surprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Markets Whole Foods,” tweeted SF City Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “Our neighborhood has been waiting for this supermarket for a long time, but we are also aware of the struggles they have experienced with retail drug theft, adjacent drug markets and the many security issues that come with it. TToday I’m renouncing the privilege of publicly announcing an editorial assignment I’m working on with Supervisor Stefani for a bylaw amendment titled the San Francisco Police Department Full Staffing Act that will make San Francisco a fully staffed police department within 5 years.
“For nearly 30 years, San Francisco residents have been denied the benefits of a fully staffed police department. Today, our current police understaffing crisis is worse than ever. The closure of Whole Foods — along with many other security-related challenges we’ve seen recently — is evidence A of why San Francisco can no longer afford NOT to solve our police understaffing crisis. San Franciscans — or at least those I represent in District 6 — are demanding solutions, and they have a right to expect that from those of us at City Hall. I hope my colleagues will support this effort. We owe our residents nothing less.”
For many in the city, however, that’s only part of the solution.
“More police is great, but we also need the power to arrest and have security, and the SFPD must not be intimidated by people who say they will let these criminals take to the streets,” added the national security adviser and former police officer Frank Ma added to the Globe on Monday. “Let’s continue to introduce laws here that punish people for stealing, not just ‘write it off’. The city needs that too. The same goes for not being complacent about drug use. More police is a good first step, but business won’t come back unless police are allowed to take action and arrest people like they used to. The people of the city wanted fewer cops and a share of their arresting powers and fewer consequences. We have that now. A grocery store fleeing here after just a year is just the latest result of it all.”
News on if and when Whole Foods will reopen is expected shortly.
