The North Face Follows Macy’s Out of Union Square
Climbing costs, trends toward online retail, and a lack of foot traffic are causing more and more vacancies in the Union Square area. The North Face is closing its store at 180 Post St. on March 17. North Face was actually started in San Francisco in the 1960s but has since moved HQ to Colorado, and it’s been owned by a big corporate conglomerate (VF CORP) for over 20 years.
It begs the question, “where are all our finance bros going to get their vests now?” Oh wait, the finance bros have all gone online as well. And the tech bros all wear patagonia.
Last month Macy’s announced its plans to close about 150 “underproductive” locations by 2026, including about 50 by the end of this fiscal year. Macy’s flagship store in Union Square has been there since 1947.
Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of the Union Square Alliance assured the press, “Macy’s at Union Square is not closing their store until a buyer can be found for their building. Macy’s will remain open and could still be open for years to come. In all likelihood, there will be a holiday shopping season and Macy’s Great Tree in 2024.”
Adidas, Aldo, Hollister, & Lucky Brand have all already shut in January, last year the big retail closures were Old Navy and Nordstrom in downtown San Francisco.
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According to realtors, Union Square has the highest store vacancy rate in San Francisco, and San Francisco is experiencing its highest retail vacancy rate in its recorded history (around 35% vacancy rate).
This city has been setting trends for 150 years, boom or bust, SF does it bigger than most. Large, big box brick-and-mortar retail stores are no longer en vogue, and neither is Union Square. The Bay Area has made billions of dollars moving everything online, while getting the rest of the world to follow suit, we can’t be surprised that our downtown has moved there too.
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