Nordstrom to lay off 379 San Francisco workers as company flees crime-ridden city

Official filings show that 379 employees will be losing their jobs between Nordstroms two locations inside the Westfield San Francisco Center shopping mall and on Market Street, Mercury News reports.

333 employees will be axed from Nordstroms main department store, while 46 workers will be laid off at the Nordstrom Rack, according to the WARN notice the company sent to the California Employment Development Department.

The Nordstrom Rack on Market Street will be closing on July 1, while the Nordstrom mall location will shutter its doors at the end of August, Washington Post reports.

Earlier this month, Nordstrom announced that they will be closing both of its stores in downtown San Francisco in the coming months, due to the changing "dynamics" of the downtown market as the region continues to be plagued by retail thefts.

The closures are downtown San Francisco specific as the retail giant recently announced the opening of five new Rack stores in California, including some near the Bay Area.

Chief Stores Officer Jamie Nordstrom announced the store closures in an email sent to employees stating that the retail giant can no longer "operate successfully" in downtown San Francisco.

"We’ve spent more than 35 years serving customers in downtown San Francisco, building relationships with them, and investing in the local community. But as many of you know, the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully," Jamie Nordstrom said.

The stores represent about 357,500 square feet of retail space.

According to WARN notices sent to the state Employment Development Department and obtained by Mercury News, Nordstroms is still debating on whether or not employees will be able to transfer to other locations, and who will be granted that opportunity.

"We have not yet determined who will be offered these opportunities," Nordstrom's human resources director Meghan Hanes said in the notice.

Following Nordstrom's announcement that they would be closing the two locations, Unibail Rodamco-Westfield, the owner of the Westfield Mall, told the San Francisco Standard that the closures "underscores the deteriorating situation in Downtown San Francisco."

A spokesperson for the mall added, "A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area.”

In recent months, Nordstroms, WholeFoods, and T-Mobile all have announced their departures, citing rampant retail theft, violence from homeless vagrants, and loss of foot traffic as residents refuse to shop in the once-beloved city.

According to The Standard, 20 retailers have closed stores or announced closures in the Union Square area since 2020. Saks OFF 5th is also planning to close a location on the same block as Nordstrom Rack this year.

The owner of Westfield Mall said that he "has actively engaged with city leaders for many years to express our serious concerns, which are shared by our customers and retailers" adding, "We have urged the city to find solutions to the key issues and lack of enforcement again."