I'm feeling pretty down about the struggles that San Francisco is facing. Most tech companies are still working from home, so downtown is a ghost town. Street crime is in the news (though exaggerated, in my opinion) and the very visible homelessness is really a hard situation. Major retailers are closing left and right.

This week's big blow is that our lovely downtown Nordstrom is closing, leaving the rotunda of the fancy downtown mall empty. I known in-person retail has been declining everywhere, but we were particularly hard hit. They'd already shrunk by one floor and pared back the cutting edge SPACE collection. Now it's closing for good, and Nordstrom Rack too.

(There are still Nordstroms in driving distance -- the suburban Walnut Creek Nordstrom is bustling, and I'm out that way pretty often.)

Last week I stopped by the mall to return something to Banana Republic, only to realize it had just closed with no notice. I was there the week before! (The flagship BR is still open a few blocks away, to be fair.) The big flagship Gap, Uniqlo, and H&M stores closed early in the pandemic. And trendier Euro chains with NY and LA locations - COS, Other Stories - don't even look at San Francisco anymore.

Ten or so years ago when I started getting really interested in fashion, I went through a magical phase where I could go to the fancy department stores downtown - Barneys, Saks, Nordstrom - and the sales people would compliment my outfits and take me seriously (though I didn't have the budget to buy much at full price). It was such a change from my awkward nerd self in my teens and twenties. I'm glad I had that experience.

Shopping has become my 'get out of the house and do something' activity when I'm feeling blah or lonely, which is often, these days. It gets me out and around people. I'd still rather shop in person, but maybe I'll take these changes as a reminder that there's a whole world of things to do out there.