San Francisco announces plans to PUNISH businesses for fleeing due to rampant crime

 Retail stores are fleeing San Francisco in droves as the California city collapses under the weight of rampant crime and theft. And rather than deal with the crime problem, city leaders instead want to punish the stores trying to leave.

The so-called "Grocery Protection Act," introduced by city Board of Supervisors member Dean Preston (Democratic Socialist), says stores that try to leave San Francisco would have to provide the city with six months' notice, allowing city leaders time to look for a replacement retail tenant.

This bill was introduced not long after Whole Foods Market closed down its flagship San Francisco store after just a year of being there. Crime was so rampant at Whole Foods that the store was losing more than it was selling, prompting it to vacate the premises.

Not only that, but workers at the now-closed Whole Foods location were routinely threatened with weapons as vagrants flooded the store. Homeless people would throw food at staff and provoke fights, with some even defecating on the floor, creating a health hazard.

In one particularly nasty incident, a homeless man with a knife sprayed an employee with a fire extinguisher. There were also routine incidents of people overdosing on drugs in the store's washrooms, with one man actually dying there after taking too much fentanyl and methamphetamine.

An astounding 570 emergency calls were logged at the now-defunct location, all of these occurring in just a single calendar year. One of the calls involved an employee reporting that a "male [with] machete is back," and another in which "another security guard was just assaulted."

 

 

Forcing businesses to stay

Rather than show sympathy towards the store and its employees while offering solutions, San Francisco city leaders instead complained that Whole Foods was leaving.

"Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we're also well aware of problems they've experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them," said Matt Dorsey, a former San Francisco Board of Supervisors member who added that he is "incredibly disappointed" at the store's closing.

Preston was even more upset about Whole Foods shutting down. He stated that Whole Foods should have had to give half a year's worth of notice before being allowed to flee.

"Our communities need notice, an opportunity to be heard, and a transition plan when major neighborhood grocery stores plan to shut their doors," Preston said.

If Preston's bill passes, any store like Whole Foods that tries to leave without six months' advanced notice would be considered non-compliant, subjecting it to potential legal proceedings.

Keep in mind that it is not just grocery stores that are fleeing San Francisco. Other large businesses that have left the California city in recent years include Adidas, AT&T Inc., Nordstrom and Lego Group.

"The stores should demand compensation for staff and loss of goods from the local authority," one commenter wrote about how, if anything, stores should be suing San Francisco for not doing enough to protect their businesses and customers from rampant crime.

"San Fransicko will soon become the proud owner of all the city's grocery stores," wrote another. "And they still won't be able to keep the shelves stocked because the trucks will be hijacked before they can unload."

"This is exactly the type of action that will attract new businesses, too," joked another, sarcastically mocking the Grocery Protection Act for the stupidity that it is.