San Francisco’s historic downtown shopping area, most notably around Union Square, is struggling with a record retail exodus. Since 2020, numerous big-box retailers have closed or announced they will depart, redefining the economic and social fabric of a high-profile American city.
At least 17 stores have vacated Union Square since 2020, with multiple others on downtown streets. This isn’t merely a series of standalone business failures it’s a manifestation of the convergence of circumstances: climbing office vacancies, safety issues of crime and drug use, and dramatically decreased foot traffic.
The outcome is a reimagining of busy shopping centers into corridors of emptiness and doubt. This report delves into the biggest retail exits, revealing the underlying problems that drove them out and what it says about the future of city retailing in post-pandemic America.
1. Nordstrom: A Flagship Loss
Its most symbolic exit was Nordstrom, which shuttered its five-story flagship at Westfield San Francisco Centre after 35 years. In addition to this, a nearby Nordstrom Rack was closed, leaving the city’s center fully abandoned. For decades, the store had served as a mark of Union Square’s prestige.
The retailer blamed the “altered dynamics of downtown San Francisco” as the fundamental cause, citing declining footfalls and operational difficulties. Almost 400 workers lost their positions, as mall owners directly attributed “un-safe conditions” for shoppers and employees as a hindrance towards recovery.
On its last day, the once-thriving store seemed like the ghost of its past. Vacant aisles and reflective consumers depicted a bigger picture: even retail giants can’t resist the pressure of declining demand and the constant concerns over public safety.
2. Old Navy: Two Decades End
Old Navy, a longtime fixture since more than 20 years, shut its downtown location in July 2023. Gap Inc., its parent company, owns Old Navy, and the action came after months of restructuring throughout the parent company’s portfolio.
Gap Inc. has been struggling with losses and restructuring its footprint to achieve profitability targets. Old Navy’s withdrawal is the result of a strategic corporate decision rather than an abrupt withdrawal, although it contributes to the apparent weakening of affordable retailing in the area.
For San Franciscans, the closing was yet another reminder of the way urban cities are becoming less tenable for mid-market fashion companies. Although crime wasn’t cited as a reason, broader trends around less traffic and changing shopping habits were a determining factor.
3. Saks Off 5th: Discount Luxury Retreat
Saks Off 5th has also announced its San Francisco store will close, reducing luxury discount options in the Union Square district. The former gateway to luxury as an affordable entry point struggled with many of the same challenges as its bordering stores.
Official pronouncements portrayed the departure as a normal business assessment, but it reflected the structural problems affecting the downtown economy. Decreasing sales and increasing operating risks rendered maintenance impossible.
On the same block as shuttered Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th’s exit added to the perception of a retail strip in decline, with both up-scale and discount models suffering alike.
4. Anthropologie: Moving Strategy
Anthropologie, which specializes in fashion and lifestyle products, shuttered its Market Street location last May after over 20 years. The move was a sign of a larger shift in strategy, abandoning expensive downtown locations while retaining Bay Area stores.
By sending shoppers to suburban outlets instead, the company retained visibility while trimming overhead. For dedicated consumers, though, the closure was one more indicator of downtown’s waning allure.
The departure underscored the extent to which even well-anchored brands have to change when safety issues and declining sales trump the cachet of a high-end downtown location.
5. Amazon Go: The Unfulfilled Promise of Cashierless Retail
Amazon Go, the technology conglomerate’s high-stakes cashierless store experiment, fully exited San Francisco last April by shuttering all four of its stores. The move was not an isolated incident Amazon also closed Go stores in New York and Seattle as part of a larger consolidation effort.
The concept for Amazon Go was groundbreaking: a seamless shopping experience where consumers might pick up products and leave, with payment taken care of electronically. At first, the model was hailed as the retail future, with its promise of efficiency and innovation. But in reality, it found it hard to fit San Francisco’s challenging climate as well as evolving customer behavior.
The shutdown exposed that even very advanced ideas are not exempted from challenges facing the city. Lower foot traffic, expensive operation costs, and safety issues on the street probably rendered the experiment unviable. Amazon’s withdrawal was a wake-up call that technology cannot promise success in complicated urban economies.
6. Whole Foods: Safety Overrides Strategy
Whole Foods Market Street store, which opened with hopes, shut down less than a year later in April 2023. The motive was harsh and evident: employee and consumer safety.
The store emerged as a spot of frequent emergency calls, prompting the company to retreat despite its status as an urban anchor. Some issues involved:
- Regular violent confrontations
- Acts of drug offenses within the store
- Open defecation and vandalism
- More than 560 police responses within 13 months
This concerning trend rendered further operation untenable. Whole Foods’ withdrawal, from space intended to mark rebirth, instead to symbolize city disinvestment and raise serious questions about the city’s capacity to police downtown itself.
7. Office Depot: Remote Work’s Impact
Office Depot shuttered its Union Square location in April 2023, a decision that mirrors the shifting nature of work and retail. With office commuters declining, downtown lost a central segment of its weekday shopper base.
Its parent conglomerate, ODP Corp., had already closed another San Francisco location. The trend indicates consolidation, responding to a world where working remotely diminished demand for the classic office supply centers.
This closure highlighted the ripple effects of work shifts during the pandemic. As offices closed, support retailers saw their relevance and sales plummet.
8. Arc’teryx: A Brief Bet
Arc’teryx, the Canadian outdoor apparel maker, closed Grant Avenue just three years after opening. Opening in 2020, amid the uncertainty of the pandemic, the store was unable to gain traction in a soft downtown market.
High rents and slower traffic combined to bring unsustainable conditions. Even with its reputation for quality equipment, the brand found downtown San Francisco unfriendly to long-term expansion.
Its withdrawal showed how even niche, specialty retailers are susceptible to the same fundamental issues undermining general retail downtown.
9. The RealReal: Flagship Closure
The RealReal, the luxury consignment online brand, closed its Post Street flagship in February 2023 as part of its layoffs of 7% of its employees. Closing was a larger corporate reorganization amidst financial stress.
The store opened in March of 2020, just as the pandemic started to take grip. The bad timing meant that it never picked up speed, with the brand having to sacrifice losses in a tough environment.
The move confirmed that even digital-first companies cannot rely on downtown San Francisco to support their physical ambitions when consumer behaviour has shifted so sharply.
10. CB2: Home Furnishings Exit
Modern furniture retailer CB2 ended its Union Square presence in January 2023, closing a store that had been part of the neighbourhood since 2008.
The move was a testament to the challenge of maintaining big home goods stores in a neighborhood losing its position as a shopping hub. Fewer visitors translated to diminished purchases at high-priced retail units.
CB2’s closure also decreased diversity downtown, taking away from Union Square a longtime furnishing choice and diminishing its draw as an all-under-one-coverage retail destination.
11. Banana Republic: Downsizing Strategy
Banana Republic, another Gap Inc. company, said it would move within San Francisco to a smaller store fewer than one-third the size of its Union Square flagship.
The move was part of Gap Inc.’s efforts to cut expenses and open smaller, more streamlined stores. It wasn’t an entirely new departure, but a strong indication that huge flagships are unsustainable.
The downsizing was a sign of an increasing trend among retailers: remaining in business while evolving with the new circumstances of customer behavior and overheads.
12. Athleta: Exit from Sutter Street
Athleta, which is owned by Gap Inc., reiterated it would be closing its Sutter Street store in spring 2023. The exit was the latest in a series of downtown withdrawals by the parent company.
While it enjoys popularity, Athleta was confronted with the same impediments of poor traffic and high expense. The drawbacks were greater than the advantages of having a vast physical presence in the district.
Athleta’s departure along with Old Navy and Banana Republic demonstrated how even San Francisco-based domestic brands are pulling back their investments in the downtown centre.
11. The Container Store: Reducing for Efficiency
The Container Store said it would close its larger Market Street store and relocate in a smaller space nearby. This was abandonment not so much as adaptation.
By downsizing, the brand converged with existing sales reality while still keeping a presence. The move implied that its former footprint no longer fit customer demand.
This is just one of a broader retail trend: small, functional stores filling previously unused, underperforming downtown locations.
12. Crate & Barrel: Home Goods Exit
Crate & Barrel shuttered its Union Square location early in 2022 after decades as a downtown anchor. Its exit followed the fate of big-box home goods retailers.
Loss also narrowed Union Square’s line of retail stores, depriving shoppers of another reliable furnishing retailer. The closure contributed to a perception of long-term decline as well.
Combined with CB2’s departure, Crate & Barrel’s withdrawal illustrated how structural challenges are transforming entire categories of retailing throughout San Francisco’s urban center.
