Things were already pretty rough for retail. Having to compete with Amazon and other giants is hard enough, let alone sky high commercial rent and lax shoplifting laws/enforcement. Walgreens is threatening to leave SF because the shoplifting is so out of control, with deadbeats filling up garbage bags with just under $950 worth of goods and selling them outside.
Then we had the forced closures with Covid, followed by looting and vandalism, where police forcers were either instructed not to intervene or were too stretched thin to do so. Seems like forcing retailers to close, then all of a sudden not enforcing lockdowns during the protests and letting their shops get ransacked, is the ultimate slap in the face and maybe final nail in the coffin for many of them.
Will be interesting to see who's still in business after this is all over.
Then we had the forced closures with Covid, followed by looting and vandalism, where police forcers were either instructed not to intervene or were too stretched thin to do so. Seems like forcing retailers to close, then all of a sudden not enforcing lockdowns during the protests and letting their shops get ransacked, is the ultimate slap in the face and maybe final nail in the coffin for many of them.
Will be interesting to see who's still in business after this is all over.