A San Francisco supermarket is installing metal exit doors to prevent frequent shoplifters from raiding grocery stores amid spiraling opioid-fueled crime that has caused stores and people to flee the city
- A Safeway in Vallejo recently installed metal emergency exit doors in front of one of the entrances to deter shoplifters
- Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago, including large metal barriers on closed payment lanes
- Several major corporations, including Gap and AT&T, pulled out of downtown as crime spiked in the Bay Area
A San Francisco supermarket desperate to curb the constant shoplifting in the crime-ridden city has installed giant metal barriers at the exits to stop the thefts.
A Safeway grocery store in Vallejo recently added metal emergency exit doors in front of one of the entrances that warn an “alarm will sound” if shoppers or shoplifters attempt to exit the building.
CBS reporter Betty Yu also said the Vallejo store had closed a second entrance and other locations were following suit to deter thieves from stealing.
Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago as a shopper took to Twitter to show a store going to extremes, blocking closed checkout lanes with large metal doors, as well as siding lanes leading out of the store with obstacles as well.
“Bars everywhere, multiple security guards, you have to scan your receipt for the door to open to get out, and if you don’t buy anything, an employee has to open the door to let you out,” one remarked. Twitter user in February about an Oakland Safeway store.
DailyMail.com has contacted Safeway for comment.
A Safeway in Vallejo recently installed metal emergency exit doors in front of one of the entrances which warn that an ‘alarm will sound’ if shoppers or shoplifters attempt to leave the building
Shoplifting and theft have been a huge problem in San Francisco as it is overrun with homeless people and drug addicts
San Francisco has been hit hard by big business packing up after the streets were overrun with homeless people and drug addicts, fueling a rise in crime.
Tourism is down 16% from pre-pandemic levels and workers have abandoned their offices to work from home and stores are emptying. In its place, some 7,000 homeless people descended on city centers and tourist traps.
San Francisco’s once-bustling Union Square and downtown are now a shadow of their former selves: rows of empty stores, sparse crowds even on busy weekend days, and nearby hotels – including a huge Hilton – unable to meet their mortgage payments.
The historic Flood Building, a survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, sits largely empty: Gap has followed almost every other business on the property except for a tired branch of Dr. Martens and from an Urban Outfitters store offering 70% off. .
An Oakland store has installed barriers on every checkout lane closed to arrested shoplifters
Barriers and bars are also installed near the entrances to force customers to go through the checkouts to leave
Signs tell customers that an ‘alarm will sound’ if customers use the exit
On Market Street is the soon to be sold out Westfield San Francisco Center – its doors reek of urine and every store is manned by huge security guards. Westfield announced its planned departure on Monday and several mall occupants have already announced they will follow suit.
A few days later, AT&T announced that its iconic flagship store around the corner at 1 Powell Street, one of the largest in the country, would be closing permanently.
The local branch of Walgreens is boarded up, though still open, and was recently the scene of a deadly confrontation between a homeless trans woman and a security guard.
Ross Dress For Less and Saks Off 5th operate a one-in, one-out system to deter thieves while Nordstrom Rack closes completely in September – along with sister Nordstrom and dozens of other stores such as T-Mobile and Payless Shoes .
Edward Liu, 49, a local resident and hospital worker, told DailyMail.com: ‘A lot of shops are closing, a lot of hotels are closing. “You don’t get the numbers downtown anymore because a lot of people are working from home.
“Homelessness doesn’t make people want to stay, it’s just not very appealing.
Robbery increased nearly 15% in San Francisco, while overall crime decreased 6.7%.
“They defecate, they urinate in the street. They take drugs in the street. The mayor does nothing and it has been like that for a very long time.
Commercial real estate agent Mark Ritchie told DailyMail.com that San Francisco has been particularly hard hit by the rise of remote working which has decimated footfall in the Financial District and Union Square neighborhoods.
He said: “The office market in San Francisco is devastated. It has had the most severe backlash from Covid and remote work due to the technological orientation of the Bay Area economy.
“San Francisco is one of the toughest cities to get to downtown, so the remote work crowd there’s even more resistance.”
Robberies increased by nearly 15% in San Francisco, while overall crime decreased by 6.7%.
