Abercrombie & Fitch in San Francisco Closing

[Alpha8472]

The Westfield San Francisco Centre store is closing. They are not renewing their lease. The store is in the mall, but has a street entrance as well. This entrance is on Market Street which is notorious for homeless people and grab and run robberies.

The 50 employees will be out of the job. Some employees expressed hope that Abercrombie and Fitch might open a store elsewhere in the city. This is the store where shirtless male models would stand at the door and greet you. At one time, the people of San Francisco loved this. However, foot traffic has dropped off in recent years. I think it has been a while since Abercrombie had the shirtless men at the door.

[HCal]

Good riddance to these pretentious fast fashion chains. They can all disappear, I doubt anyone will miss them.

[buckguy]

A&F has been doing large numbers of closures since at least 2019. They closed half of their big flagships a year ago and have closed large numbers of other stores. Store closings of any sort for them is no surprise. They have more signs of life online than in their stores.

[Alpha8472]

Abercrombie had some bizarre traits. The cologne being sprayed into the air would pollute the air all the way into the halls of the mall. The loud thumping music was way too much. It made people want to leave the store. It was always so dim in their stores. The entire store tried to appeal to young people, but many people despised Abercrombie.

Having shirtless male models at the door was kind of weird. The shopping bags were also kind of strange again with shirtless male models. It was strange how the men were shirtless, but the female models always had their clothes on.

[ClownLoach]

I thought they closed all of the problematic locations in their restructuring? This must have been a location they planned to keep but then ran into problems. I have noticed that the remaining stores are being remodeled into a classier looking mid century modern style, opening up the windows and brightening the interior. Not displaying the cheap fast fashion stuff or jeans with so many holes they could have been pulled out of a dumpster. Basically they were moving away from that dumb trendy operation back to a brand that had been built over many decades.

[Alpha8472]

This was a very busy location until COVID. Then foot traffic dropped off. Now that the lease is expiring, they don't want to renew it. They are thinking about relocating to another location with cheaper rent. There are still 4 other stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[buckguy]

They've closed stores in two viable malls in the DC-Baltimore area. I'm guessing that they don't really have a strategy beyond getting out of expensive leases.

[storewanderer]

I forgot this joke was even still in business. My favorite was their Hollister chain. I worked with someone who was employed by this outfit in high school. First job. Her position was to "stand by the door." They would have a mystery shopper come into the store and a question the shopper had to answer was "was the person standing at the door attractive yes/no?" Someone in management supposedly had to "approve" her appearance each day at the beginning of the shift. One time she asked me if other retailers had this sort of appearance rule because she noticed a lot of people working in retailers didn't look very attractive. Obviously I said no. I never spent any money at this chain.

[pseudo3d]

I've been under the impression that the Westfield San Francisco Centre was not getting any better and this is another sign of slow decay. Is the former Bristol Farms still empty?

[Alpha8472]

San Francisco Centre is actually very nice. It is an enclosed upscale mall, so that you do not have any homeless problems or crime problems. There is a huge security presence and it is very safe.

The mall itself is very full with very few vacancies. The stores are expensive, but they are very nice. The food choices are amazing. The selection of restaurants is very upscale. This is a high end mall.

The architecture is very nice. The crown jewel is the Emporium Dome. The Emporium Dome of the former 1929 Emporium Capwell Department store has been preserved. It is a huge dome of glass that is a sight to behold.

The circular escalators of Nordstrom are also a unique trait. I had never seen circular escalators before. The store just stretches to the sky. Nordstrom even has a wooden staircase with paintings on the wood paneled walls. It is like a mini art gallery.

At 12:15 you can see the Emporium Dome.