T-Mobile Closes San Francisco Flagship Store as Crime Spins Out of Control

An alleged drug dealer uses his phone near drug users in San Francisco, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

T-Mobile became San Francisco’s latest retailer to flee the city’s downtown area in recent months, citing a drop in foot traffic and a rise in crime.

The phone company’s two-story flagship store in San Francisco’s neighborhood of Union Square was permanently closed last month as havoc continues in the once-prominent business district.

A note was left on the door of the T-Mobile outlet for customers directing them to visit two other locations in the city, according to the San Francisco Business Times.

T-Mobile is the latest retailer to abandon its main store in the crime-ridden city, following Whole Foods and Office Depot.

In a statement provided to SFGate via email, a company spokesperson did not give specific details about the decision, but mentioned a change in “retailer strategy.”

“We recently reshaped our retail strategy,” said the spokesperson, adding that “employees have been offered roles within the company.”

A T-Mobile employee at a different store location confirmed with SFGate that staff would “probably get transferred to other stores.”

Downtown San Francisco Being Abandoned Due to Spike in Crime

Union Square is one of San Francisco’s premiere shopping districts and is located in the city’s downtown region.

The 17,000-square-foot upscale location broke local price records when it was sold to T-Mobile in 2013 for $50 million.

The building at 1 Stockton Street was previously Apple’s flagship store in San Francisco, before it relocated to its current location on Post Street.

According to records, the space was sold to the Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation following Apple’s relocation.

The shuttered property now joins other vacant commercial buildings in the city, as a desperate wave of companies flee San Francisco, which has suffered from massive increases of crime and homelessness, high taxes, and a commitment to woke public policies.

The vacant building is next door to a 19,000-square-foot building on Stockton Street that previously housed an Armani Exchange and a 10,387-square-foot space that was once home to a Disney store location.

Businesses throughout San Francisco have experienced repeated smash-and-grab robberies in recent years, especially since the onset of the pandemic.

The plague of shoplifters has cost city businesses millions of dollars in losses, which forced the city’s authorities to allow the police to stake out retail locations in 2022 to better manage the crisis.

Other retailers have also announced plans to close their downtown locations this year, including Saks Off 5th on Market Street, after eight years in business.

The CB2 furniture store on Ellis Street was left empty after the chain moved out of the location in January.

The Nordstrom at Westfield San Francisco Centre and the Nordstrom Rack on Market Street, which were both in operation for almost 35 years and nine years, respectively, have plans to close this August.

“The dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully,” Nordstrom told SFGate.

A spokesperson for the mall in Westfield said. that “a growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area.”

Retailer Reluctant to Keep Stores Open Due to Safety Concerns

City authorities were embarrassed in April after Whole Foods announced the temporary closure of its highly praised flagship store in San Francisco, only a year after opening in March 2022.

The grocery store chain cited concerns about crime in the area posing a threat to the safety of the store’s staff, after Walgreens made a similar move in 2021 due to theft issues.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey, the representative for the district where the Whole Foods was located, posted a tweet in which he stated that he was “incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Market’s Whole Foods,” and blamed the problem of rampant drugs and crime in the area.

“Whole Foods’ closure—together with many other safety-related challenges we’ve seen recently—is Exhibit A as to why San Francisco can no longer afford not to solve our police understaffing crisis,” Dorsey wrote on Twitter.

“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, 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.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for T-Mobile, when asked about the closure, told Fox News Digital that the company “recently reshaped our nationwide retail strategy to better take care of customers.”

“This includes plans we’ve made in this area and a few others to move away from the Signature Store format in some cities to instead serve customers through a nearby Experience store,” the T-Mobile spokesperson added.

The phone company’s new “Experience” store is able to handle multiple customer issues and features the latest T-Mobile devices while offering a more relaxed environment compared to traditional store locations.