Gump's San Francisco warns: This could be our last year

Whole Foods temporarily closed one of its San Francisco locations due to rampant shoplifting. In June, shopping mall operator Westfield announced it would give up control of its San Francisco mall, citing “challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic.”One month earlier, one of that mall’s biggest retailers, Nordstrom, said it would shutter both of its San Francisco stores, attributing its decision to the “dramatically” changing dynamics of the city’s downtown. The Westfield San Francisco Centre stopped making payments on a $558 million loan for their mall at 865 Market St. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesIn addition, several attention-grabbing videos of store robberies in San Francisco have garnered national attention and calls for stricter policing in the city. While violent crime statistics in San Francisco have remained relatively low in recent years, compared to other major cities, property crimes have risen since 2020, according to San Francisco Police Department data. Meanwhile, San Francisco has grappled with a housing affordability crisis since before the pandemic, contributing to an uptick in the unhoused population in the city’s downtown.