T-Mobile shutters flagship store in San Francisco

Another major retailer has fled San Francisco, leaving yet another major vacancy in the city's downtown corridor. T-Mobile quietly shuttered its flagship store in the city last month amid decreased foot traffic and rampant crime.

While T-Mobile did not provide a specific reason as to why the company decided to close the 17,000 square feet two-level flagship store in Union Square, an upscale shopping area in San Francisco, a spokesperson for T-Mobile said in a statement to SFGate, "We recently reshaped our retail strategy" and that "employees have been offered roles within the company" at other locations.

The news comes shortly after retail giant Nordstrom announced they will be closing both of its stores in downtown San Francisco in the coming months, due to the changing "dynamics" of the downtown market as the region continues to be plagued by retail thefts.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the owner of the Westfield mall where the downtown Nordstrom is located, told the San Francisco Standard that the closures "underscores the deteriorating situation in Downtown San Francisco."

A spokesperson for the mall added, "A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area.”

Whole Foods also succumbed to San Francisco's lawlessness and permanently shuttered its doors just after one year of being open on Market Street. In that time, employees at the crime-ridden store placed more than 568 emergency calls which included incidents of homeless vagrants throwing food, starting fights, and even defecating on the floor, the New York Times reported.

Two years ago, Walgreens closed several locations in the city while Best Buy has struggled with issues from organized retail crime. 20 retailers have closed stores or announced closures in the Union Square area since 2020. Saks OFF 5th is also planning to close a location on the same block as Nordstrom Rack this year, according to The Standard.

Shortly before Whole Foods announced it was closing, CashApp founder Bob Lee was fatally stabbed in the streets of the city. Former fire commissioner Don Carmignani was also recently beaten over the head with a pipe by a homeless man. 

Recent data from the Census Bureau revealed that almost 8 percent of current San Francisco residents plan to move elsewhere within the next year. The National Retail Federation’s 2022 retail security survey ranked San Francisco/Oakland as the second-most hard-hit metropolitan area by theft in 2020 and 2021, trailing Los Angeles.