Home Depot Set On Fire in San Jose, California

[Alpha8472]

I parked my car at a Walmart in the city next to Oakland and two of my hubcaps were stolen. They ran off before they could get the other two. At least, they didn't take my catalytic converter. A lady told me how they took her catalytic converter and she had to take a bus home from Walmart.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Just to show what kind of a mindset this brings on when I saw the headline on the news feed about this Saturday evening I wondered if the fire could've been the result of a retail theft incident. I didn't even need details; I just knew. Those of you who live in these areas-how do you do it? It seems this stuff is just a way of life there and people just shrug their shoulders and go on with their day. It's become a quality of life issue that will make these areas unlivable which eventually bring down sky high property values because there will be no takers. Makes me appreciate my three acres in the middle of nowhere even more.

[veteran+]

It depends on what area you live in.

I am fortunate that I do not have these issues around me.

Not including anyone that contributes here, but much of this stuff is media hyperbole and in person exaggeration.

[storewanderer]

It depends on what area you live in.

I am fortunate that I do not have these issues around me.

Not including anyone that contributes here, but much of this stuff is media hyperbole and in person exaggeration.

Fire being set and destroying a store and injuring those inside is pretty unusual. And now we have this with what, one Home Depot, and a Wal Mart in the bay area? So is someone trying to drive a car into Safeway, failing on attempt 1, and returning a few days later for attempt 2.....

This is a very serious problem. The bay area has some of the highest costs of living of any of the US. Something is radically wrong.

[Alpha8472]

Propane theft is also an issue. All of the propane tanks at several Walmarts were stolen just weeks ago. Why would they steal such low value items... Unless they were preparing to use them...

That was the second Safeway ramming. One in Concord rammed twice and one in San Jose. That time it was 4 convenience stores and a nail salon rammed with Safeway as the 6th store to be rammed.

[ClownLoach]

A Home Depot was set on fire just hours ago. It was 5 alarms, and the plume of smoke could be seen for miles around.

The shoplifters at Home Depot have a pattern. This has gone on for years. Theft is a problem at these Bay Area Home Depot stores. Shoplifters swarm the store and treat employees very rudely causing a distraction as other shoplifters steal and make a getaway.

This store caught on fire really quick and the store was totally engulfed in a short period of time. If you burn down the store, then you won't be able to shoplift from it again.

Many stores are now posting signs saying, do not bring propane tanks into the store now. People go into the store saying they need to buy propane and then create a scene.

Propane is exchanged outside the store. You never bring the propane tanks inside. Everything these days is a distraction.

The store is done for. Sprinklers are not enough to keep these stores from burning to the ground.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-depot ... alifornia/

I saw people on Twitter last night asking that question... why didn't the sprinklers work. In a store like Home Depot, they're enough protection to allow people to evacuate, but there is no way they could put out the toxic soup that is a hardware store. I listened to the scanner traffic, and the firefighters had to stop operations for a bit because there was no way to drain the excess water - too toxic.

People do not understand that fire sprinklers don't really put out a lot of water. Fire sprinklers are just to slow down the fire to allow for a safe evacuation, and they only activate on a sprinkler by sprinkler basis.
Each individual sprinkler has a little thermometer type device on it that breaks open allowing water flow once there is enough heat. Aside from that they are about as effective as a garden hose against a wind blown wildfire.

[ClownLoach]

Unfortunately, I think you are going to see more of an exodus from the Bay Area - too risky and expensive to do business, for multiple reasons. This does not help any. There is a Home Depot not too far from the Hegenberger Road area that has consistent shoplifting (and squatter) issues. I'm starting to think that while an ill-timed expansion did not help any, Lowe's saw the writing on the wall with Orchard, and cut bait while they could. Big Orange is probably thinking the same thing at this point.

I worked with several former DMs and SMs that lost their jobs in the Orchard shutdown and it felt like all they talked about was theft and shrink. Maybe Lowe's saw the same problem. The Lowe's expansion of Orchard was focused on a different market from the original chain - they wanted into urban areas where there wasn't enough physical space to build a full size Lowe's. Exactly the kind of areas where these looting and theft problems are happening most. I saw the one along the freeway in Portland and it is in one of the roughest areas in the city completely surrounded by homeless. It is now one of those Mini Target locations and was already having to be surrounded by security guards (external firm which is expensive) to chase the homeless away. That site alone probably delivered a hefty amount of shrink for Orchard and I'll bet it isn't doing any better for Target.

[storewanderer]

I worked with several former DMs and SMs that lost their jobs in the Orchard shutdown and it felt like all they talked about was theft and shrink. Maybe Lowe's saw the same problem. The Lowe's expansion of Orchard was focused on a different market from the original chain - they wanted into urban areas where there wasn't enough physical space to build a full size Lowe's. Exactly the kind of areas where these looting and theft problems are happening most. I saw the one along the freeway in Portland and it is in one of the roughest areas in the city completely surrounded by homeless. It is now one of those Mini Target locations and was already having to be surrounded by security guards (external firm which is expensive) to chase the homeless away. That site alone probably delivered a hefty amount of shrink for Orchard and I'll bet it isn't doing any better for Target.

Lowe's had no clue what it was doing with OSH. OSH was a fragile operation. I suspect it was never very profitable but sort of kept surviving for one reason or another. OSH was not a chain in a position to do any sort of major expansion like Lowe's was hoping for. It was a chain in a position to just sort of survive. Lowe's made some very dumb store openings like the one you describe in Portland in fact the entire expansion into the Northwest was a dumb move; another real dumb one was in Pleasant Hill where they paid a fortune and took out a modern Lucky in a location that was completely unsuitable for a hardware store.

What is interesting at least in northern California is many OSH Stores have reopened. Some as Ace (Chico, Woodland). One as Grange Co-Op (Yuba City). Some as OSH. Yes, they are also still called OSH- just slightly changed- Outdoor Supply Hardware.

[Alpha8472]

I totally agree. The very nice and large 2000 era Jewel Interior supermarket built by Albertsons in Pleasant Hill, California should never have become a hardware store. The OSH only took up half the store and did not do much business. That Albertsons was the crown Jewel of Albertsons when it opened. It had a Starbucks in 2000. Safeway saw how popular supermarket Starbucks kiosks were and added Starbucks kiosks to most of their stores just a few years later.

Many OSH stores run by Lowe's were in bad areas. The one in Concord, California was being robbed blind. They had to close it long before the chain went out of business. The neighborhood was so bad, that the new Cardenas Market in the same strip mall only lasted months before it was closed due to rampant theft.

The OSH store in San Leandro was reopened as an Outdoor Supply Hardware. It is in a high theft city right near to Oakland. The Pak N Save across the street closes early before 9 PM to prevent grab and run thefts. The Home Depot in that city is constantly robbed.

Outdoor Supply Hardware even opened up another store in Concord, California in another abandoned Orchard Supply Hardware store. That one is across the street from the Safeway that was rammed twice.

That OSH is just waiting to get robbed in the same manner. These new OSH stores don't seem to do much business. They are in really bad neighborhoods and the new owners think they can somehow survive.

[HCal]

Just to show what kind of a mindset this brings on when I saw the headline on the news feed about this Saturday evening I wondered if the fire could've been the result of a retail theft incident. I didn't even need details; I just knew. Those of you who live in these areas-how do you do it? It seems this stuff is just a way of life there and people just shrug their shoulders and go on with their day. It's become a quality of life issue that will make these areas unlivable which eventually bring down sky high property values because there will be no takers. Makes me appreciate my three acres in the middle of nowhere even more.

Having lived in California my whole life, this is a total non-issue. Some store had a fire, their insurance company will pay for it, life goes on. But for some reason, people who live in the "middle of nowhere" (as you put it) have a strange obsession with California. When I travel to other states, I'm amazed at how much the media and the locals talk about how California is about to collapse. Not to get political, but I think this is pushed by conservative media sources. Meanwhile, the state economy and population just keep on growing.