MORE than 13 major stores have pulled out of San Francisco in recent weeks as the California city continues to suffer from a dire public image.
This week it was announced that Michael Kors, one of the world’s most popular designer brands, is closing its flagship store in downtown San Francisco.
A sign outside the location in the San Francisco Centre mall reveals it is “closing soon.”
It also directs customers to its next nearest location, Valley Fair, Santa Clara, which is about 45 miles away.
“It’s not goodbye,” the sign reads, as reported by KRON4. “We’ve loved sharing the best with you at Michael Kors San Francisco.”
The location in the embattled California city is just a couple of doors down from the former Adidas store which closed around a year ago.
It opened in 2009, according to Yelp, and its final day of service is not yet known.
News of the closure comes hot on the heels of a further dozen stores shutting in San Francisco, also announced earlier this week.
Walgreens announced on Monday, January 13 that 12 of its San Francisco locations will close for good in late February.
News of the closures was reported earlier by CBS News Bay Area and other local outlets.
“It is never an easy decision to close a store,” Walgreens told FOX Business in a statement.
“We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve, and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance.
“When closures are necessary, like those here in San Francisco, we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions.”
The pharmacy giant blamed the closures on “increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures” that it said were “weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs.”
It added that its retail pharmacy business was “central” to its “go-forward business strategy.”
Earlier this week, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth admitted that one of its major anti-theft measures in recent years may have had the opposite effect.
Speaking during a first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, January 14, he confessed for the first time that locking out items was frustrating customers who didn’t want to wait for a store worker to come and help them.
“When you lock things up… you don’t sell as many of them,” he said, as reported by CBS News.
“We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.”
Anti-theft measures rolled out by retailers
Retailers across the US and Canada have rolled out strategies designed to combat theft. The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of measures that have been implemented at stores.
- Locking items in cabinets
- Security pegs
- Security cameras
- Signs warning about the impact of theft
- Receipt scanners
- Receipt checks
- Carts with locking technology
Walgreens reported a $245 million loss for the last quarter, compared to $39 million for the same time a year earlier.
It plans to close hundreds of stores by the end of the year to try and reverse the trend.
Around 2,000 Walgreens locations have already shut in the past decade.
