Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) subsidiary Whole Foods Market is temporarily closing down its Trinity location in San Francisco beginning Tuesday. The supermarket, which is one of the largest in Downtown San Francisco, has only been open for a little over a year.
“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”
The San Francisco Standard reported that a City Hall source said that the main reason for the decision is the area’s deteriorating street conditions due to drug use and an increasing crime rate.
And this isn’t the store’s first move to protect its staff. In October, the store cut its operating hours due to the increasing rate of theft and hostile visitors. The following month, they had to enforce new bathroom rules after drug paraphernalia like syringes and pipes were found in the bathrooms.
The city has been trying to downplay its increasing number of violent crimes since Cash App founder and former Square CTO Bob Lee was stabbed to death in a middle-class area in San Francisco last week. The city claims that despite the uptick in homicides, it’s still well below the rate in cities of similar size.
The temporary closure of the Whole Foods Market flagship in the area underscores this growing concern.
Matt Dorsey, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, has pinned the problem on an understaffed police department, saying that “San Franciscans have been denied the benefits of a fully staffed police department for nearly 30 years,” and that the “current police understaffing crisis has never been worse.”
Dorsey announced that he will introduce new legislation with Supervisor Catherine Stefani that will amend the City Charter and “get San Francisco to a fully staffed police department within 5 years.”
Information for this briefing was found via The San Francisco Standard, CNN, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
