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Starting The Year Off Right with Closing Store Fronts in SF

Writer's picture: kalianiegkalianieg

picture of the salesforce tower from below.
Photo taken at the Salesforce Park in 2018

2025 has really been the year for stores closing left and right. Both large businesses and small businesses alike have been closing their stores in my city. You can only hope something will fill in the empty shops but it's a growing problem that really bloomed in 2020 when the pandemic hit. With people staying home instead of going out, it has had a big effect on neighborhood business. I’ve seen many beloved stores disappear within the last 5 years due to increasing rents for store fronts. Each owner I asked always said it was too expensive to keep a store here in San Francisco. Either they shut down for good, or they move to another city. Sometimes even closing their other stores just to afford 1 store in the city. San Francisco is slowly turning into a ghost town with all the empty storefronts. Somehow it is easier to keep them closed than finding a business to fill them in. There are so many other reasons aside from rent that contribute to stores closing like theft, drug use, the cleanliness of the streets, the lack of customers going to physical stores due to online shopping, building owners selling the properties, et cetera. What will be San Francisco in the next few years?


It is hard to tell, but some neighborhoods have been hit harder than others, take Mission Street for example which had more than 70 vacancies in just a 10-block radius back in 2023. As well as Downtown struggling to fill their commercial spaces and offices because the spaces are too large for small businesses. Though the city has a strategy to rescue the dying downtown area and turn it into a more attractive place with their “Road map to San Francisco's Future” campaign. Reshaping the neighborhood with things like, but not limited to, converting old office buildings into housing, enhancing public spaces, inviting creative recreational spaces, and making it easier for small businesses to start and grow their business. You can definitely read more about it at the sf gov website. In a shocking revelation of the current state of things there was a video posted on the web of a visitor classifying the Westfield Mall as an abandoned mall due to many storefronts being empty. I would have never thought to see they day when a San Francisco mall would be turned into an aesthetic of abandonment. Though the food court below the mall was probably one of the busiest spots, not many people shopped at the stores above. Westfield mall chose to not renew their lease for the space due to the decline of people going to the malls. 


I personally think that malls and public spaces are important for people to go to. Places where you don't have to spend money just to hang out unless you want to. Parks are amazing but what happens in extreme weather? I'm always left looking for a cafe that isn’t spilling out with customers. I feel like a hawk watching for an open seat at a cafe. I just think we need more variety of indoor spaces where you don't have to pay an arm and a leg each weekend just to have some fun. Not only retail spaces are being affected but local Walgreens and Safeway's are being closed down impacting communities. This causes people to travel further to get groceries and medicine. Which greatly impacts the older population in those areas that are affected.


In more exciting news, coming in 2025 is America's Second Nintendo store which will be called Nintendo San Francisco. Their first store being in New York, they decided to open a place right here in the city. People are hoping that the new store will attract more people to the Union Square area. This seems like a great move that might get other companies to come to San Francisco. I believe it takes a community to heal and build community. Take Japan Town for example, who shared the news that they plan to close due to the pandemic and the community came though supporting them. Now they are on the path of remodeling the Peace Plaza after many years. Make sure to support your local businesses when you can! We will see what the future becomes.


San Franciscos future

References:

  • “In All the Empty Stores of Your SF Neighborhood, a Tangle of Reasons Lurk Behind Locked Doors.” The Frisc 2 May 2023, thefrisc.com/in-all-the-empty-storefronts-of-your-sf-neighborhood-a-tangle-of-reasons-lurk-behind-locked-doors-ed1b5f26df27/

  • “Why Are There So Many Vacant Storefronts and What Can We Do About it?” KQED 16 Februrary , www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892238/why-are-there-so-many-vacant-storefronts-and-what-can-we-do-about-it

  • “Westfield pulling out of downtown San Francisco.” Kron4 12 June 2023, www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/westfield-pulling-out-of-downtown-san-francisco/

  • “Nintendo Announces Plans for Official Store in San Francisco.” Nintendo 24 May 2024, www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-announces-plans-for-official-store-in-san-francisco/

  • “Finally revealed: The location of San Francisco’s forthcoming Nintendo store.” The San francisco Standard 24 May 2024, sfstandard.com/2024/05/24/second-nintendo-store-in-u-s-coming-to-union-square/

  • "Roadmap to San Francisco's Future." SFGov , www.sf.gov/roadmap-san-franciscos-future

 

What inspired this post was hearing about the many stores I frequent closing or that have been closed since writing this post. Well, if you liked this post don't forget to leave a like! Comic will not resume till March 1st, due to recent illness I am behind on some chapters.


Important Dates!

Feb. 5th: Blog Post

Feb. 12th: Blog Post

Feb. 19th: Blog Post

-no events scheduled


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Butterfly
2 days ago

San Francisco has definitely been closing a lot of stores. But at the same time some stores are coming from other countries. For example Miniso is moving to the mall. But other times you can’t even find somewhere to get your medicine, because so many stores that have pharmacies are closing down. Thank you for this post Kawaibunny, I enjoyed it. And I hope you feel better!

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