- Whole Foods is closing its flagship store in San Francisco just over a year after it opened.
- The retailer cited "the safety of our team members" in justifying the closure.
Whole Foods has suddenly closed its flagship store in San Francisco just over a year after opening the location.
The grocery store's last day open was Monday, The San Francisco Standard reported. The location opened last March on Market Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Crime and drug use near the store was a factor in Whole Foods' decision to close its doors, a source told the Standard.
"To ensure the safety of our Team Members, we have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being," a company spokesperson told Insider. "All Team Members will be transferred to one of our nearby locations."
A company spokesperson told the Standard that Whole Foods would consider reopening the store "if we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members." Whole Foods did mention specific safety issues that the store faced.
Other retailers have cited crime as the reason for closing locations in San Francisco. In 2021, Walgreens closed five stores in the city, citing concerns about shoplifting. But a review of crime data by the San Francisco Chronicle found that there were few incidents at the stores in the years leading up to the closures. Even Walgreens' CFO said in January that the chain "cried too much" about theft at its stores.
Downtown San Francisco also hasn't been as busy since the start of the pandemic, the Standard reported. Many workers who used to report to offices are now working remotely. That's led to less foot traffic, businesses closing their doors, and worries about a "doom loop" leading to less tax revenue for the city, according to the publication.
Whole Foods has spent the past year shuttering multiple stores around the US. Last May, the Amazon-owned grocer said that it would close six locations across the country. Amazon has also paused plans to open some stores under its Amazon Fresh banner, which sells groceries at lower prices than Whole Foods.
Despite company closures, Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel said in January that the chain wants to pick up the pace of new store openings in the coming years. Whole Foods opened 11 new locations in 2022, he said, including stores in Culver City, California, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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