Whole Foods Lasts One Year in San Francisco Before Being Forced to Close Due to Crime

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After being open for a little over a year, the downtown San Francisco flagship location of Whole Foods Market has been forced to close due to the increasing crime rate in the area, according to reports.

The grocery chain cited worker safety concerns as the reason for their decision to shut down the store, as rampant drug use and growing crime made it unsafe for their team members to operate in the location. The company added that they would evaluate a reopening of their Trinity location if they felt they could ensure the safety of their employees.

The Whole Foods store had already reduced its hours in October of last year due to “high theft” and hostile customers, and store managers had even limited the use of bathrooms to customers only after discovering syringes and pipes in them. The city has also lost foot traffic as many residents are now working from home instead of going into offices in the downtown area, which has caused countless small businesses to close.

San Francisco’s District 6 Supervisor, Matt Dorsey, expressed his disappointment over the closure, stating that he was drafting new legislation to ensure that the San Francisco Police Department is fully staffed within five years. The department has been short of 335 officers since 2017, well below its staffing goal.