SAN FRANCISCO—The Safeway at 1335 Webster Street is set to permanently close on Feb. 7, 2025, the corporation announced in a notice to Mayor London Breed on Dec. 10, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The decision was made “due to ongoing concerns about associate and customer safety, as well as persistent issues with theft,” the company told the Chronicle.
Safeway initially announced in early January this year the closure of the store it has operated for 40 years. The company later agreed to extend its services until early 2025, rather than in March 2024 as was originally planned, after the city negotiated with Safeway and the property’s new owner, Align Real Estate.
The initial closure decision was made following a spree of closures of grocery stores and pharmacies, including Walgreens and Whole Foods, in locations that were suffering from rampant theft and other crimes.
Rev. Amos Brown of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco mentioned in a statement the shoplifting and security issues the store is facing, “just as retailers are facing all over the city.”
“It’s a problem that must be dealt with at a citywide level as well as by each community,” Brown said. “Safeway will insist this is strictly a business decision. But for the community it is far more. Losing the only grocery store in the neighborhood would be a blow to the health of the Black community and the integrity of a neighborhood that’s still struggling from ‘urban removal’ and systemic racism.”
“We are incredibly dismayed that this day has come,” Breed said in a statement. “For more than 40 years, the Webster Street Safeway has been more than a grocery store—it has played a central role in bringing the community together and for the Fillmore neighborhood, which is home to many senior citizens and families.”
Safeway will continue to serve San Francisco residents at its 15 other locations, according to the statement.
The city has assigned agencies, including the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Human Rights Commission, SFMTA, Treasurer’s Office, and Human Services Agency, to mitigate the impacts of the loss of the Webster Street Safeway store.
These agencies will work with existing businesses to increase offerings of healthy food and pharmacy services to the neighborhood residents, and they will explore the possibility of replacement of lost services onsite through long-term redevelopment proposed by private parties, the statement said.
