By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-22 18:46:40 | Updated at 2025-01-22 21:59:19
3 hours ago
Another high profile store has abandoned the San Francisco Centre shopping mall in the city's downtown.
Designer handbag retailer Michael Kors this week closed its store in the struggling mall, which has turned into a ghost mall as retailers flee it amid rising crime.
'We've loved sharing the best with you at Michael Kors San Francisco' a sign on the store's Market Street door read on Tuesday. Customers are directed to its nearest location in Santa Clara.
The closure is a blow to the mall, since Michael Kors was among its most high profile retailers still left. Around half of shops are now empty.
Yesterday, Bloomingdale's said it will shut its flagship store in the mall in March. That leaves the embattled center without its last major anchor tenant.
The exodus has been ongoing for years, with Adidas and American Eagle closing their doors in January and May of last year, respectively.
Other high-profile departures include L’Occitane, Sephora, J. Crew, Hollister, and the Lego Store. Nordstrom left last year after 40 years
While the center still has a few remaining brands such as Rolex and Aritzia, it appears to have become the victim of dwindling foot traffic and increased crime in the city's downtown.
Michael Kors has closed its store in the struggling San Francisco Centre downtown mall
Bloomingdale's has announced that it will shut its flagship store in the struggling San Francisco Centre Mall
Other chain's have also leased space, including A&S Cell Accessories and Repairs, Hey Hi Toys, Merkado and Paw Box.
The mall, previously known as the Westfield San Francisco Centre, was renamed last year in an effort to rejuvenate its tired image.
'During the Centre's 128-year history, it has evolved with the times to sustain and reinvent itself as a community gathering place,' its owner Trident Pacific said in a release at the time.
Trident took over the running of the mall from Westfield in the summer of 2023 after it defaulted on its loans.
The mall had also faced legal action from American Eagle which claimed that mismanagement and 'neglect' from the mall has left its employees to 'suffer and respond to gun violence, physical assaults, burglaries, and robberies.'
'We're committed to working with our existing retailers and restaurants, the City, and the community to ensure that this historic location has a new foundation to succeed.'
The latest closures come after Sephora also shuttered its Laurel Heights location in the city, and Macy's announced the closure of its stores in Newark and Corte Madera.
Walgreens is also set to close a bunch of its underperforming Bay Area pharmacies.
Trident took over the running of the mall from Westfield in 2023 after it defaulted on its loans
The sign on the Michael Kors store door announced the closure on Tuesday
Tara Button, who was on a shopping trip with her daughter to celebrate her admission to college, told DailyMail.com she was 'sad' about the mall's decline and had no plans to return
Downtown San Francisco retail continues to suffer as a result of the area's rampant crime and shoplifting epidemic.
Market Street, where the mall is located, has become a haven for open drug use and homeless encampments.
Last January, DailyMail.com visited the mall amid a raft of retailers leaving it.
The visit tied with the closure of several stores inside the mall - Adidas, Aldo, J.Cew and Lucky Brand closed in a ten day period at the end of that month.
'Five years ago, this place was thriving,' Tara Button, who was on a shopping trip with her daughter to celebrate her admission to college, told DailyMail.com at the time.
Button, a 49-year-old business owner who lives an hour's drive away in San Jose, last visited the center in 2019. But on seeing the tired shell it's become, she and her daughter said they'd cut their visit short – with no plans to return again.
'It's a bit of a shock, it's very sad,' Button said, before her daughter described the 'dodgy' downtown streets they had to walk through to arrive at the mall. 'We were scared, which bothers me,' Button added.
Across America, stores are being closed as the ongoing 'retail apocalypse' forces brick-and-mortar locations to grapple with rising theft and shrinking profit margins.
Up until mid-December, US retailers have shut 7,300 stores - up nearly 60 percent from 2023.
The most recent big retail bankruptcy was Container Store, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on December 22.
Earlier that month, Big Lots said it was beginning 'going out of business' sales at all its stores across the US, after filing for bankruptcy in September.
