Dang! & I remember all the nice shopping around Union Square. Seattle has a fancy vertical mall in downtown that started renovating before the pandemic & a lot of retailers left it. Now it’s a sad & empty except for the movie theater on top.
I’m wondering if the Birkenstock change is because LVMH bought them in 2021. I didn’t know it happened until last month when I was searching for different styles. Also explains the $2000 hand embroidered ones for Dior (LVMH also owns them).

I guess I will get to see the SF Nordstrom's in its faded glory, just like the Vancouver one. Maybe there will be some good sales. Though like many here, I find the pickings in B&M stores slim these days, on the whole. It can be hard to find my size. Having said that, I still love B&M shopping -- you get to see and touch the fabrics, and even if they don't have your size, you can often figure out what that size would be by a quick eyeball or try on of the merchandise they do have.

Online shopping definitely requires different skills and a certain level of persistence. Then again, B&M shopping also requires skills and persistence. Just exercised in a slightly different way.

But there is nothing like a vibrant city core -- the buzz, the creativity, the people-watching.

Sigh. SF has lost its vibrant city core. But at least now you can take the Central Subway to Chinatown! Not sure the cost; we tried it in the opening weeks when it was still free. But it makes Chinatown a bit more convenient for some of us.

Oh no! I have a conference every year a few blocks away and have been to that store so many times. One year I flew in a bit early and even planned to have a bra-fitting, since their selection was better than my local Nordie's. Definitely sad news.

I saw a headline today in the NYT about a mall closing in downtown San Francisco and I thought of this thread. It's made me recall the days when US cities had completely different department stores, remember that? Before it got corporate. Now it seems it's mostly the same stores on every corner.

The presence of these big nationwide retailers...and even international ones...pushed the economy in a direction that many smaller department stores and residents too, couldn't keep pace with. Did cities get too greedy with growth and prime real estate? Did these cities fail to do enough to protect their residents of all incomes and their city's unique profile? Is what we are seeing the natural outcome of their poor decisions? Maybe some of the empty buildings and malls can be used for housing people who desperately need it. Ironically, the very people they ousted to make their malls and big theaters and stores.

When I first lived in Seattle in the early 2000's there was a little man who stood outside of Barney's, almost a permanent fixture on the corner. He was there every time I went downtown. His cardboard sign he held was full of very small writing and he yelled all day long about how upset he was. I wasn't sure what the issue was until The Stranger newspaper published a story about him being evicted from his apartment to make way for urban development. I still think about him!

What an interesting comment Judy. I think I agree with you. Corporates are mostly acting in their own interest not the interest of the community or the city - if there is no demand in one city they close there and expand elsewhere. Some corporates are good global or environmental citizens and treat their staff and communities well - but not all.

Same with property developers... and look probably the same with small business as well.

When cities become empty of people it does attract trouble. Over time prices will drop, usage will change and things will evolve. But there is heartbreak in between.

That is sad news. When I was a grad student across the Bay, I used to make special BART trips over to that Nordstrom when I was in search of wedding and interview attire. It was always an enjoyable excursion and escape from my grad school existence.

Judy, great point about the housing. All California cities are under a state mandate to add their proportional share of affordable housing, and SF has completed a survey of which vacant office buildings can be converted into housing. They are also trying to streamline building approvals, which currently take ages to process. So hopefully moving forward we will see a good mix of housing stock coming online. But like anything in the public sector it will take time to move the needle.

I am sad but not surprised. Last time I was at that Nordstrom (5 months ago?) someone was using the sidewalk by the door as a restroom. I have compassion, and I also feel very uncomfortable with this (the poor employees who had to deal with this daily!)
Hayes Valley has some great shops, as does Fillmore, and the Corte Madera mall (in sunny Marin) has a Nordstroms + the usual (Madewell, J Crew).

End of an era, or the beginning of another, for sure.