Cole Hardware’s SoMa store will close its doors on May 31 due to a dwindling customer base and safety concerns, CFO Rick Karp told The Standard. The company also recently emailed its customers about the closure.
The 103-year-old San Francisco home improvement chain had bet heavily on SoMa prior to the pandemic as new developments loomed in the once-thriving neighborhood.
But since the pandemic, the customer base has steadily shrunk as incidents of crime and harassing behavior have become more common, according to Karp, who doesn’t call himself CFO but “Keeper of the Karma.”
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Karp said the window of the 345 Ninth St. location, just blocks from Twitter’s headquarters, was smashed by a passerby around 10 a.m. Tuesday. San Francisco police couldn’t find a report of the incident, but Karp said the store would only call the police if it planned to file a report for insurance purposes.
“Someone decided to break our front window, just smashed it with their backpack and walked on,” Karp said. “Our employees have problems with individuals on a daily basis. Safety is definitely an issue.”
The main problem for the company, however, is the ever-declining customer base, said Karp.
“Instead of coming close to breaking even, we’re getting further and further away from it,” Karp said.
Cole’s isn’t the first company to exit SoMa, which is often dubbed the neighborhood second hardest hit by the city’s drug crisis. Samy’s Camera on the corner of Ninth Street and Bryant Street also closed its doors in February. Ace Plumbing and Rooter Inc. banners now hang from the building where Samy once lived.
“I think SoMa’s problems will remain chronic for many years to come,” Karp said.
There is a final sale in the SoMa store, with a 25% discount on all items.
