Nordstrom leaves downtown San Francisco flagship as lease expires following sagging foot traffic

By Steve Gelsi

Nordstrom follows through on plan to vacate its downtown San Francisco store after 35 years on Market Street in the heart of the city.

Nordstrom Inc. has closed its former marquee store in the heart of San Francisco due to low foot traffic after disclosing plans to do so earlier this year.

The retailer (JWN) ended up shutting the store down over the weekend, just days before its self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31, according to reports. The five-story store had been open for 35 years at that location.

A store employee told the Daily Mail, "It is definitely partially due to the crime in the area [and] COVID had a big impact."

The closure marks another blow to the San Francisco Centre mall, which saw mall-operations giant Westfield walk away from the shopping center in June after it stopped payments on a $588 million loan.

Also read: Westfield surrenders keys to downtown San Francisco shopping mall to lender

A Nordstrom spokesperson did not immediately reply to an email from MarketWatch.

The plan to leave the downtown location was announced by Nordstrom in May, saying that it would not renew its lease. It planned to close Nordstrom Rack on July 1 and the main department store by the end of August.

"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," said Jamie Nordstrom, the company's chief executive of stores, in a May statement.

The company planned to refocus on 16 other stores in the San Francisco Bay area.

On the plus side for San Francisco, Ikea has opened a new store on 945 Market Street, not far from the San Francisco Centre mall at 865 Market Street.

Nordstrom stock was up by 1.1% on Monday. The stock has dropped by 4% since the start of the year, compared to a 15.6% increase by the S&P 500 SPX.

Also read:WeWork's roles as owner and tenant collide in San Francisco high-rise as company tries to stay afloat

-Steve Gelsi

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08-28-23 1139ET

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