Nordstrom to close both Downtown San Francisco stores, company confirms
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Nordstrom is planning to close both of its Downtown San Francisco stores, choosing not to renew its lease inside of Westfield Mall, the store confirmed Tuesday.
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It will also close the nearby Downtown Nordstrom Rack.
The Nordstrom Rack on Market Street's last day of business will be July 1, and the Nordstrom inside Westfield Mall is slated to close at the end of August.
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The company's chief stores officer wrote in an email to staff that "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."
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The Westfield Mall said in a statement that the closure "underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco."
"The planned closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco," said a mall spokesperson. "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."
Jamie Nordstrom, Chief Stores Officer, sent the following message to employees:
"Today we announced that we've made the difficult decision not to renew our leases atthe San Francisco Centre Nordstrom store and our Market Street Rack store across the street. Market Street Rack's last day of business will be July 1 and we intend to close San Francisco Centre at the end of August.
Decisions like this are never easy, and this one has been especially difficult. We've spent more than 35 years serving customers in downtown San Francisco, building relationships with them and investing in the local community. But as many of you know, 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. With both leases set to expire, and after looking closely at our opportunities in the region, we believe we can better serve our customers there by focusing on our 16 nearby Nordstrom and Nordstrom Racklocations, as well as online.
I want to be really clear that this decision had nothing to do with our teams' hard work. They should be proud of everything they've achieved together and the way they've shown up and served the community. We're working with each impacted employee to support them through this transition and find new roles within the company wherever possible.
Stores continue to play a critical part in delivering our Closer to You strategy, and we continue to be opportunistic aboutnew store locations, relocations and concepts.In fact, we have 20 new Rack store openings planned this year, with more to come in 2024. We also remain committed to the Bay Area market and have made significant investments in our stores there over the past several years. We recently announced a new Nordstrom Rack store will open in Pinole, CA, and completed a remodel at our Valley Fair Nordstrom store."
Read the full statement from Westfield Mall below:
"The planned closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco. 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.
URW has actively engaged with City leaders for many years to express our serious concerns, which are shared by our customers and retailers. We have urged the City to find solutions to the key issues and lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity.
The current environment is not sustainable for the community, or businesses, and we are hopeful the City will implement the changes that are so urgently needed."
Source: KGO-TV
