April 11 (UPI) — Whole Foods Market has shut down its new flagship store in San Francisco, a little more than a year after the market opened, over concerns about worker safety.
The Whole Foods store at 8th and Market streets did not open to customers Tuesday and the store’s website was also taken down.
“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said in a statement Monday. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”
The organic foods retailer, which opened in March of 2022 and was one of the largest supermarkets in San Francisco, sold more than 3,500 local products with “design nods to classic San Francisco,” according to the market’s opening news release last year.
Before the 65,000 square-foot grocery store resorted to shutting its doors, the location limited operating hours last October due to “high theft” and “hostile visitors.” The store also implemented new bathroom rules last year after customers found pipes and syringes.
Whole Foods said it was a “difficult decision to close the Trinity store,” adding that the market’s employees will be transferred to other locations.
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey weighed in on the closure, saying he was not surprised Whole Foods shut down its market in his district.
“I’m incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Market’s Whole Foods,” Dorsey tweeted Monday.
“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.”
In response to the closure, Dorsey also announced a draft charter amendment to get San Francisco’s police department fully staffed within five years.
“Whole Foods’ closure — together with many other safety-related challenges we’ve seen recently — is Exhibit A as to why San Francisco can no longer afford NOT to solve our police understaffing crisis,” Dorsey said.