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San Francisco’s Union Square shopping area has lost 17 retailers since 2020

Union Square is one of the most famous shopping districts in San Francisco. | Getty Images

Sadly, another longtime retailer will depart from Union Square.

Anthropologie will close the doors of its 880 Market St. store on May 13. As first reported by SF Gate, the closure leaves the lifestyle retailer without an outlet in the city. Its website points shoppers to its Berkeley and Corte Madera locations. 

The departure is another blow to the city’s famed shopping district, which has lost a total of 17 retailers in the past three years, according to an analysis by The Standard. Companies that cited a reason for closing a Union Square location attributed the move to a reevaluation of real estate portfolios or a shift in business priorities.

Office Depot on Third Street and Amazon Go on Post Street also announced store closures in the area this month.

In January, Gap announced it would scale back its Banana Republic presence in Union Square and shut down the Athleta store on Sutter Street this spring. 

The news that Whole Foods would shut its Downtown location just a year after it opened shined a spotlight on the challenges retailers face in the once-vibrant area. Concern for the store’s staff given the rising crime and drug abuse in the area pushed the store to close. 

After highly publicized robberies in 2021, Union Square shops received an increased police presence during the 2022 holiday shopping season. One burglar recently received a three-year prison sentence for one Union Square burglary.

Scan the list below for the complete list of retailers leaving San Francisco’s Union Square and its immediate vicinity.

Shelley D. Fargo contributed additional research for this story.