What’s shopping like now in downtown San Francisco?

By Katie Sweeney

People tell me San Francisco is dead — a veritable ghost town in the making. We’ve lost Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Whole Foods, The North Face, and many more. If it’s not barren streets then it’s accusations of feces and needles. Do you really think we’re just a zombie wasteland covered in trash?

I took a stroll recently and found clean streets, tight security, and a police presence. The rampant closures definitely cast a pall, but there were no crowds, and homeless riff-raffery was almost non-existent. I heard the doom loop may claim Zara next, so I headed there first.

“When are you closing?” I blurt out to the security guard as I walk inside.

“8 p.m.,” he promptly replies, causing me to laugh.

“No, I meant, when are you closing for good? The store?” No news on that yet, he said. The rest of the trip is less lucrative: I wanted new brushes from Mac, but it’s no longer there. I tried to get a few prerolls at the dispensary, but it’s closed, too. In terms of storefronts, it’s the ghost town they say it is. Express, Gap, Forever 21, and Anthropologie — all places where I used to shop are gone. Urban Outfitters and Sephora remain.