San Fran Exodus: AT&T Closing Flagship Store, Citing 'Changing Consumer Habits'

AT&T is preparing to close its flagship store in downtown San Francisco, citing 'changing consumer shopping habits,' according to local news website SFGATE.

"Consumer shopping habits continue to change, and we're changing with them. That means serving customers where they are through the right mix of retail stores, digital channels, and our phone-based care team," said AT&T spokesperson Chris Collins. He said the store at 1 Powell St. will close on Aug. 1.

AT&T will have eleven remaining stores in the metro area, including one on Market and Fremont streets. So not a total exodus. 

Last month, T-Mobile closed its flagship store in the downtown area. It told SFGATE, "We recently reshaped our retail strategy." 

The main reason why AT&T, T-Mobile, and many other stores, such as Office Depot, The Container Store, Anthropologie, Whole Foods, Disney Store, Armani Exchange, CB2, Saks Off 5th, and others, are closing up shop is that progressive city leadership failed to enforce law and order, sparking a tsunami theft wave. 

A combination of remote work, companies scaling back office footprints, and no one wanting to have operations based in a Marxist shit (covered) city have forced some of the highest office vacancy rates in the country. The local economy can't thrive without office workers, a doom loop that crushes retailers. 

As retailers leave because of a lack of sales and theft, this hits building owners who can't find tenants, forcing some to default on the buildings (see: here). You can see the chain of events is creating a perfect storm. 

Earlier this week, Westfield and its partner Brookfield Properties stopped making payments on the metro area's largest shopping mall after "challenging operating conditions." 

This comes after Nordstrom, which occupies 312,000 square feet in the mall at 865 Market St, isn't renewing its lease in August after nearly four decades of operations. When Nordstrom closes, the mall only be 55% leased, well below the average 93% of other Westfield malls across the US. 

Bloomberg obtained a letter to employees from Jamie Nordstrom, the retailer's chief stores officer, who said the closing of Nordstrom is due to a slump in sales because of lower foot traffic, adding "dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years." We suspect Nordstrom is referring to the out-of-control crime.

And on Thursday, Cinemark Theater announced it would be closing its location at the mall. 

Can you see how failed progressive policies have sparked a vicious doom loop, forcing businesses to shut down and subsequently putting pressure on property owners? In these high-interest-rate environments, these owners struggle to find financing and tenants, leaving some with no alternative but to default.

What a mess the Democrats have created.