Target announced Tuesday it would be closing three Bay Area stores next month, including San Francisco’s 1690 Folsom St. location, citing problems with rampant organized retail theft.
In addition to the Folsom Street store, Target is also closing locations at Oakland’s 2650 Broadway and Pittsburg’s 4301 Century Blvd., according to a Target press release. The stores will close on Oct. 21.
The retail giant is closing nine locations in four markets, which include New York City, Portland, Seattle and the Bay Area.
Target said organized retail theft in these markets has contributed to an “unsustainable business performance.”
“Despite our efforts, unfortunately, we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully,” Target wrote in the release.
Retail theft at Target stores has been well documented in San Francisco. In May, workers at the Metreon mall Target told The Standard they see around 10 thefts a day.
Staff and shoppers at Target, Safeway and Walgreens stores complained that increased security measures, such as products being locked up, were irritating. The Standard had to wait three minutes and 20 seconds for Metreon Target staff to unlock Tide Pods during a June visit.
Target’s closure announcement comes after a wave of high-profile store closures in San Francisco, beginning with the shuttering of a flagship Whole Foods store in Downtown’s Mid-Market neighborhood in April.
Nordstrom closed its behemoth store in the former Westfield mall on Aug. 27, almost four months after announcing it would shutter both its Downtown San Francisco locations. The iconic sign above the former Nordstrom store at the San Francisco Centre mall was removed by workers on Sept. 22. Nearly half of Union Square’s shopping district stores have also shuttered in recent years.
New store openings are already taking extra steps to battle crime, with the new Downtown San Francisco Ikea running round-the-clock security and SoMa’s new Total Wine & More store installing a huge 7-foot-tall security fence around its parking lot.