#retail-decline

#retail-decline

Big chains Shake Shack and Panda Express are the last restaurants operating inside the mall's once-bustling lower level. This summer, Jamba Juice, Blondie's Pizza, Izzy & Wooks, Mija Cochinita, Umai Savory Hot Dogs, and Fires of Brazil Express closed within quick succession, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Blondie's Pizza relocated within SF, while Izzy & Wooks planned to relocate, too, the Chronicle reported. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

The brick-and-mortar locations that many of us would visit to pick up a new game or simply to wander around and kill some time are increasingly empty, destined for destruction or for uses far removed from what they were before. And as physical media continues to be squeezed out of gaming thanks to the convenience of digital distribution and silly

Target is in trouble. And while it's easy to get lost in the company's recent (poor) handling of American culture war narratives that cast it as too woke or too willing to cave to online fascists, the root of Target's problems runs deep. Don't get me wrong the massive consumer boycotts from Black organizers have done damage. And there are probably folks on the far right who think even Target's toned-down, overwhelmingly beige Pride merch this year was still too loud.

The most visible example of downtown SF's post-COVID malaise was the Westfield San Francisco Centre, which lost its Nordstrom and its Bloomingdale's.