San Francisco Old Navy to become latest store to shut down in crime-ridden city

Business

From Katherine Donlevy

May 27, 2023 | 1:21 a.m

An Old Navy store that has been in San Francisco for three decades is slated to close this summer — another step in the growing list of retailers closing in the crime-plagued city.

The Market Street location — just three miles from the company’s headquarters — will close on July 1 once its lease expires, according to a company statement.

“Old Navy is constantly evaluating its real estate portfolio to ensure a healthy store fleet that can provide the best possible experience for our customers,” said Gap Inc., which owns a number of retailers including Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta.

The company said that “the way we use flagship locations has changed” since it opened the Market Street location in the 1990s, but is working to open a new location in downtown San Francisco find to replace the empty store fronts.

The closure of the Old Navy comes just weeks after Gap. Inc announced that 1,800 jobs will be eliminated nationwide as part of a cost-cutting restructuring.

The job cuts were followed by more than 500 corporate job cuts four months earlier, while sales and profits fell.

The Old Navy store isn’t the only longtime store in the Bay Area that has suffered so many losses in recent weeks that it has been forced to close.

Nordstrom is preparing to close two locations in the city: its department store on Westfield Mall and the Nordstrom Rack a few doors down on Market Street.

The closures will see nearly 380 job losses as the clothing retailer struggles with rising shoplifting and a drop in pedestrian traffic.

Saks Off 5th, Anthropologie, Coco Republic and Whole Foods Market also joined the list of retailers going out of store in San Francisco. The latter announced plans to close just a year after opening.

At least 20 stores in the city’s Union Square area have closed since 2020.