Almost 100 years after opening, Macy's flagship Union Square store is slated to close

this is the Evening Edition after anchoring San Francisco's Union Square for close to 100 years Macy will be closing their doors good evening I'm Elizabeth Cook and I'm Ryan Yamoto the bomb chill announcement coming down this morning Macy's says they're closing 150 stores all across the country including one right here in downtown San Francisco that Union Square store opened in 1929 it's been a fixture in the city's shopping district sponsoring the Christmas tree lighting during the holidays also famous for their holiday Windows featuring the SPCA supervisor Aaron peskin confirmed the store will stay open until the end of the year but the location will eventually be put up for sale yeah it doesn't even seem real to say those words at Macy's is closing Loren IU joins us now live from Union Square Loren what are shoppers saying about this it has to be a shock quite the shock hey their team well you know when you think of Union Square when you think of San Francisco you really think of Macy's now I spoke with Shoppers here today and locals and they tell me the thought of losing their precious Mac Macy's well that is heartbreaking take a look it is the heart of Union Square and for some the very heart of San Francisco Macy's is planning to close its flagship store in downtown citing under performance as the key reason the 400,000 ft department store has shaped countless memories for Bay Area Natives and tourists alike that includes 21-year-old Barista sopia Arana I was like oh my God like that's it's a staple like it's been here for so long this building like especially for Union Square like Macy's what you think you think about the Cheesecake Factory on top born and raised in the city Sophia says she has fond holiday memories with her family at Macy's the store has been the backdrop to countless parades and celebrations for nearly 100 years Christmas time I remember was always like filled up it felt like New York almost like with hell of people but yeah it's crazy the impending closure will impact around 500 jobs but it won't happen overnight it's estimated to take up to a few years to identify a buyer the Union Square Alliance emphasized that there will still likely be a Macy's great Tree in 2024 still Sophia says it will be hard to not have that familiar accessibility to the iconic store she's known and loved since she was young I remember when I was little me and my mom would come shopping like it was a thing on the weekends to come shopping and then go to Cheesecake first then just walk around but can't really do that anymore there not much to look at unless you have like money then there's all these like designer stores but not a lot of people have money sopia feels like a lot of her peers have turned to online shopping anyway and she worries about problems with unhoused individuals nearby worsening with such a gap in the city center still as an SF native she has continued hope for her City I feel like it could go back to how it used to be cuz a lot of people came here and I feel like the malls were a big thing cuz you had somewhere to go and until a new buyer claims the opportunity Sophia will be enjoying Union Square as it evolves from season to season now the good news is Macy's does plan to continue their annual Christmas tree celebration this year back to you L all right Loren thank you so much well meanwhile safety we mentioned it earlier around that area of Union Square has been a key issue for San Francisco mayor London breed now before the start of last year's shopping season City officials pledged to make Union Square the safest place in urban America mayor breed even brought in community ambassadors to patrol the area along with sfpd deploying additional officers to the shopping district mayor breed also launched a plan to revitalize a Powell Street Corridor to Union Square and many of these safety measures went into place following this smashing grab from 2021 at the Louis Vuitton store in the Union Square area nine people were charged in that theft and other nearby retail stores were also vandalized that night in an effort to bring tourists back to the area the mayor brought in celebrity chef Tyler Florence he opened two restaurants at the end of last year and today with Macy's announcing its departure the mayor is optimistic for the future of the location well just to be clear uh Macy's made a business decision to close 150 stores all over the country we're really excited for the opportunity to work with the Union Square Alliance and other retailers and and businesses that we talked to uh to explore what other possibilities uh exist now today's announcement follows a wave of retail closures in downtown San Francisco including Nordstrom at Westfield along with Old Navy Aldo J crew and maidwell and with San Francisco's Doom Loop still part of that political narrative with mayor Lind breed running for reelection in November her opponents wasted no time blaming Macy's closure on the city hall and mavic has more on their take on this closure hey and yeah this was a no-brainer politically the closure announcement happening under London breeds watch at a time when the city's business climate is already really under the microscope former mayor and current candidate Mark frell tweeting today this is a gut punt and scary news for San Francisco we can't afford another four years of filled leadership we also heard today from candidate Daniel luur if you walk around the streets here you see people in mental distress you see people doing drugs openly on the streets outside there's also not a level of certainty when you do business in San Francisco and the other bigname candidate for mayor Asha safay a member of the Board of Supervisors tweeting we have what it takes to be innovative and turn this into an opportunity to be Visionary and bring back SFS downtown with mixed uses that promote foot traffic and economic activity now others are taking this as the chance to debate some of the other issues on the ballot like police Staffing with prop B and whether or not that would help we are of course one week from election day Ryan this is CBS News B area with Juliet Goodrich hello I'm Sarah doni Juliet is off tonight and I iconic store in San Francisco will be no more Macy's has announced its closing its Union Square Flagship location and the company will be closing many other stores too Macy's plans to close 150 underperforming stores over the next few years in an effort to quote downsize the Macy's closure has already become a hot button political issue in the upcoming mayoral election as some candidates are saying that struggling businesses in the city are proof that San Francisco leadership needs to change change for more on this we check in with Wilson Walker who's live at Union Square in front of Macy's Wilson this is a big story we knew there were going to be there was going to be Fallout from this yeah you know one thought is we've seen this before right Nordstrom Whole Foods we've seen a lot of big closures and we know what this conversation sounds like as well is it changing retail or is it the city kind of like a breakup is it them or is it us but now it happens in the course of an election year so yes this fall squarely in the mayoral campaign big huge store like Maes uh Walgreens uh clawes the business goes down Isam masand dafi does not operate on the scale of Macy's but he is right around the corner from Union Square and he knows that this was more bad news among his handful of stores across the city only one of them is currently suffering the store in downtown goes down more than 50% still in in downtown residential area it's fine because the tourist the tourist no more tourist no more like big companies uh uh uh they moved like you know work from home there are definitely possibilities here this is not like Nordstroms where they say we're leaving we're exiting and it's certainty this is a completely different situation and I look at it as an opportunity mayor London breed repeatedly used the word opportunity when discussing the Macy's announcement and she started by emphasizing this well just to be clear uh Macy's made a business decision to close 150 stores all over the country well listen it there there are 150 closures but uh it's not an easy environment for business to be in San Francisco for the second day in a row Daniel lurry who already has a billboard above Union Square grabbed a headline to make his case that City leadership as a whole has failed this is a blow but we're coming back this city is the greatest city in the world um but we need a plan it's scary to walk after 4 5:00 asafi says it will take a greater sense of safety and ultimately more people to start filling the massive amount of space that is already empty here and he says that help is needed fast and they see it it is dying they have to save it do you think that can happen everything can be done all right he has been in that location since 1991 he's seen a lot of change here and as we were talking we kind of agreed on something a lot of what we talk about around Union Square things that might be problematic for the businesses here go back a long way here here's some video from 2018 in the last few years it really has been more about um the mentally ill um individuals on the street who are acting erratically on our sidewalks coming into our stores right 2018 six years ago and she's talking about several years that was the head of the of the business district here at the time talking about how the problems had been mounting for years so we we know we talk about the pandemic and changing retail and all these things sort of in the near term you talk to people in this neighborhood the problems the concerns here go back many years probably about a decade now uh these are problems that have been mounting for a long time and I think that is what the conversation is going to be sounding like as we move towards the mayoral election which is 250 days away you know these are not acute sudden problems these are things that have built up over a long time and you can hear that in the frustration with the people who are a little tired of it all but yeah you add Macy's to the mix a sense that things do need to turn around round Sarah yeah there will be the change conversation there will be the reimagining conversation too Wilson thank you so much we appreciate that Macy's has been at that Union Square location since 1929 so generations of people in the Bay Area have memories there and mavic has more from Shoppers who are sad to see it go I know for me I have had memories I worked in that area this is personal for you too yes I think everybody just you know got a little down when we heard this news I used to buy a birthday present for myself there every year I'm going to this year but it looks like it's going to be the last and that being said a lot of people do agree that Macy's has gone downhill over the past 5 years or so but it was always there it was something that you could count on and of course it has been there for several decades by this point uh that is something that we don't know right now what the end date is going to be supervisor Aaron peskin did confirm the store is going to stay open until the end of the year but the location will eventually be put up for sale Macy's been a fixture there in that shopping district sponsoring the Christmas tree lighting during the holidays it was famous for its holiday Windows featuring the SPCA and adoptable kitties and dogs the 400,000 foot store has Decades of memories for Bay Area Natives and tourists alike I was like oh my God like that's it's a staple like it's been here for so long this building like especially for Union Square like Macy is what you think you think about the Cheesecake Factory on top and some people we spoke with blaming the streets below as Sarah was talking about the crime and open air drug use we heard from a man who works nearby thought it was going onward and upward we're going to get things taken care of but uh knowing Macy's is closing uh it's not going upwards now we heard today from the Union Square Alliance saying there's no getting around the fact that this announcement hurts but that they believe that we should work toward a solution solution that allows Macy's to keep this iconic store open however that if that does not come to pass our expectation is that a new owner for this iconic site will come forward now the alliance says that in all likelihood there will be a holiday shopping season and a Macy's holiday treat later this year but you know there's something Bittersweet about that as well knowing that it's eventually going to go the way of the dodo Sarah yeah and that's really true um you probably know this is just the latest store closing in San Francisco Wilson was mentioning that in his report there have been several others including some big ones like Nordstrom anthropology Banana Republic and Old Navy and Walgreens in the financial district closing

Channel: KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA

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Id: ePkhx_I69JQ

Length: 13min 43sec (823 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 28 2024