Just over a year after opening, Whole Foods is closing its flagship store in San Francisco due to drug use and crime surrounding the area.
“To ensure the safety of our team members we have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said Monday in a statement acquired by KRON4. The location may re-open if they feel they can ensure the safety of their team members, a spokesperson said, according to The San Francisco Standard.
“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this market, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them,” district 6 San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said of the closing.
“San Franciscans have been denied the benefits of a fully-staffed police department for nearly 30 years,” Dorsey continued. “Our current police understaffing crisis has never been worse.”
San Franciscans have been denied the benefits of a fully staffed police department for nearly 30 years. Today, our current police understaffing crisis has never been worse. (5/7) pic.twitter.com/UUAntuvyaO
— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) April 10, 2023
In October of 2022, the Whole Foods cut its operating hours, citing “high theft” and hostile people as reported by the The Standard. “We’re spending more on security than any other store I would imagine,” the manager said at the time in a statement to The Standard. The store had only been open for 6 months, according to the report.
Since 2017, San Francisco has been down 335 officers and its staffing level of 1,537 officers falls short of the 2,100 officer goal the city has set, according to The San Francisco Standard.