Whole Foods flagship San Francisco location to close due to rampant crime and drug use in the area

Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco will close abruptly just a year after opening, according to KRON4.

The company cites safety for its team members as the primary reason for closing the store.

“To ensure the safety of our Team Members, we have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being,” said a spokesperson for Whole Foods Market.

“All team members will be transferred to one of our nearby locations," they added.

A local San Francisco supervisor, Matt Dorsey, expressed his disappointment on Twitter.

“I’m incredibly disappointed but unsurprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Market Whole Foods,” Dorsey said.

“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of the problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them," he added.

The supervisor then announced a new legislation proposal called “The San Francisco Police Department Full Staffing Act.”

The act intends to "re-establish minimum police staffing levels, and mandate certain budgetary provisions over a five-year period to achieve a fully staffed municipal police force in the City and County of San Francisco."

The plan recommends an increase of at least 400 police officers in the next five years.

Dorsey pointed to a police staffing chart that shows the city is about 400 officers under the recommended levels. According to the chart, San Francisco's police staffing is at its lowest numbers in approximately 15 years.

The massive Whole Foods location was one of the largest grocery stores in San Francisco at nearly 65,000 square feet, with more than 3,700 products.

The store opened on March 10, 2022, marking approximately 13 months of existence for the location.

In January 2023, former employees of the grocery chain alleged that they had been unlawfully dismissed for opposing a ban on employees wearing BLM masks. However, a U.S. District Judge threw out the lawsuit, citing that the company did not treat the workers differently than any other employees.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!