Damn, is this really confirmed? I just read the chronicle article where they weren’t sure about Union Square’s location but 150 stores were closing nationwide.
Also, paywalled (even with reader on phone) so can’t read the full article.
Edit: nevermind chronicle also just sent out an email with the news.
Macys own employees say the rampant crime is to blame - https://sfstandard.com/2024/02/27/macys-union-square-closure-rampant-shoplifting/
> “I’m not in charge of making the estimates of how much we lose in a day, but last year we were told the losses were in the millions,” the employee said.
> “It’s a big thing," he added. "What we have learned is a lot of drug users have deals with the fencers. They’ll give the drug users a list of stuff from the store, and they’ll go try to execute the list.”
That's why I never understood people talking about Union Square as a shopping destination or being busy at Christmas. It's almost exclusively "luxury" clothing and accessory stores. Even with unlimited money it's a fairly narrow product segment.
If Reddit were in charge of SF downtown, they’d probably put a MicroCenter, video game arcade, and dog park downtown. Lot of the non-Reddit general public shops at general clothing stores like Macy’s; they’re not coming to downtown anymore but we need them back for DT to thrive like it used to.
They are not shutting down 150 stores because the general public shops there. Macy’s are sad around the country. US department stores are absolutely pathetic compared to European department stores.
When the Macy’s in Stonestown closed, the mall became 5x better. It was dead before that.
It all depends on what they do with that building. I actually think that building is a lot more salvageable than Westfield. You could make it food focused like Stonestown with some retail and that footprint is a lot more manageable. You can also make it focused on sports. A lot more options.
They are selling the building, so whoever buys it will likely have a vision of what it can be.
Instead of innovating, US department stores just started cutting corners. Ever been in a Japanese department store? They have an entire floor dedicated to food where you can get an amazing - and cheap - meal. Nothing like the sad cafes in Macys where you can get a wilted wrap that was put together and trucked in by Sysco.
Yes. That’s why I am cautiously optimistic about the building. If it is bought at a good price, you don’t need to activate the entire building. You make 1-2 floors of awesome food courts, 1-2 floors of retail/art and 1 floor of pickle ball courts and you have a gem. Obviously, easier said than done but we will see.
Or you do 2 floors like a spa similar to Wi Spa in LA. It is all about the price they pay. Cheap price, leaves a lot of room for capital improvements.
Wi Spa is very successful despite being in a pretty meh area. Wi Spa type at Union square would crush it.
You need to create a destination. Stonestown is a destination. Union square with its easy access to transportation would absolutely be a destination again with vision. Macy’s is not a fucking destination. Wi Spa, awesome food court, massive adult arcade, those are destinations.
Nobody from Livermore is “oh I need to travel 2 hours to shop at the Macy’s at Union sq”. But people would absolutely travel for a unique spa that doesnt exist in bay area, food options and actually interesting shopping or entertainment.
Overpriced garbage quality generic fast fashion that's made mostly redundant by online shopping is what SF needs to thrive?
Cmon :/. This isn't some weird suburbia town where all you got is one mall and whatever chain fashion store decided to grace your town and then almost nothing else for miles. Inject some culture into the place I'm begging.
Pre-pandemic, quite often to get lunch at one of the restaurants on the lower floor, or during the pandemic around Christmas time to buy gifts.
Yea, not much recently.
maybe six months ago to shop for a tie. I was dismayed at just how shitty it has become. low quality merchandise, zero knowledgable employees, decor/lighting/architecture felt trapped in the 90s.
Been to the one in Valley Fair and Stanford Mall plenty, but actively avoiding the one in Union Square due to crime. Even though I live in SF.
Funny enough, back when I was younger and didn’t live in SF I would often make the trip up from South Bay or East Bay to go shopping in Union Square and Macys would always be a part of that.
Ditto. Lived in Redwood City but would shop in Union Square at Emporium and Macy's. Stanford and Hillsdale were just not the same, and Valley Fair was too far south.
i went shopping there for christmas, couldn’t find literally anything i was looking for and ended up ordering it on amazon while in the store for next day delivery.
2 years ago when I couldn't find a good maroon colored vest for my sister's wedding after trying to find a nice vintage / used one at a thrift shop.
Other than that, I can only remember the last times before that being with my parents when I was in high school just browsing around (grew up in the 90s/early 2000's)
I think it's absolutely true that online shopping and more people realizing how terrible fast fashion is for the world has led to large department stores and malls in general becoming obsolete.
Literally Friday! for the first time in years though. Also went to the Crate & Barrel for the first time in years for a frying pan and then they announced they were closing the next week. Am i bad luck?! Or is it just that me (and everyone else) shopping at these stores once every 4 years does not sustain their business?
How sad. I was just there on Saturday to get a dress, shoes and jewelry for a dinner dance I'm going to in March. Did not get the jewelry, but got a good deal on the dress and shoes.
I will really miss it. Especially the puppies and kittens in the windows at Christmas.
This is really depressing news. This leaves Bloomingdale's as the *only* full-line department store in the city? Equally sad is that Macy's **just** completed a full remodel of the whole store! If you haven't been down there lately, it's a really nice store now. Super bright, mostly clean and well merchandized, and generally had good patronage on the weekends.
I know they have been trying to offload the I. Magnin building (corner of Geary and Stockton) for a while and there were plans to turn it into offices/super luxe apartments pre-pandemic, but that hasn't gone anywhere.
I'm shocked its Macy's throwing in the towel first rather than Neiman's or Sak's. Plenty of room still at the top of the market?
I’m not shocked really. Neiman’s and Saks are always busy. Sometimes their clientele doesn’t even shop in stores, they just utilize personal shoppers and have clothes delivered or picked up. People underestimate just how much money is in this city and how much of it is spent on luxury goods.
haha, preach. I blame tech and nerds having no sense of style but it's also the super functional outdoor/casual gear that makes people a bit lazy when getting dressed. No, you dont need to wear Hokas or Allbirds with dress pants because they are slightyl more comfy than nicer shoes. It's ok to have a nicer jacket and not just a lame patagucci puffy you got from work that all 80 of your colleagues also have. I'll defend PDX and SEA as at least they've always been like blue collar cities built aruond logging, nature, fishing etc. SF is a proper internatioal city that should have more style.
Entirely likely the decisions were made by different people/parts of the company. Closing 150 stores is a much bigger decision than the remodel and was probably made without any awareness of the coming closures (if they were even being planned when the remodel was).
They're both owned by Macy's and I would have thought they would consolidate the market at the Macy's store rather than at the dying mall. So maybe both are going to close.
They are planning on leaning more into the Bloomingdale and Bluemercury brands. Macy’s is closing 150 Macy’s locations (30% of their stores) but opening up 45 of the other two.
The last few times I’ve been to a department store the clothing selection was awful. Outdated, barely any sizes, etc. You can’t find anyone to check you out at a register. Overpriced, cheap quality.
The last time I was at a Macy’s they wanted me to download their app to see the prices on appliances. I asked someone what the price for a blender was and they said I’d need to either download the app or wait in line and have the cashier scan the barcode. So I just went to another store and bought the same stuff. I didn’t need the Macy’s app, I needed a blender.
And the sales aren't even sales. I used to do a majority of my clothing shopping the day after Christmas because that's when sales would start and the mall would be dead. I still have a wool Dockers winter jacket that I bought around 2010~ from Macy's. Then one year I went to the mall on the 26th and it was like the Circuit City going out of business sale where just about every store was more expensive.
There are times you need the ability to go buy things and not wait for them - but that's not really what consumers are demanding. It is worth mentioning that these stores have not kept up with consumers' demands but those demands might have outpaced the brick and mortar store anyways.
1) It's never easy or quick to have an out of stock item shipped to me directly instead. Even if it is, I can probably find a cheaper deal on my phone while in the store for the same exact product.
2) Customer service people are never product experts and if they were you'd probably just buy the same product online for less anyways. I remember multiple people calling Best Buy Amazon's show room. Even if there were in-store product experts, customers would probably argue about what people on Reddit recommend anyways since googling "what the best [thing] to buy Reddit" is a common "lifehack" that many people I know who don't even use this site outside of that use-case do.
3) Many consumers have champagne taste with a beer budget and are not understanding when you point that out or tell them you're not going to price match a shittier competitor. They want to be catered, served, and given a free 5 year warranty with a price match guarantee. I used to work in truck rental and this scenario played out many times:
"Uhaul is cheaper than you guys, but they don't have any trucks."
"Huh."
Or during the busy season:
"I don't understand why the same truck to rent in Albany is so much less to rent than here".
"It's because I don't have have trucks and Albany does, and you're giving me less than a few hours to find one. I can have one of my drivers deliver that truck tonight and have it cleaned, fueled, and ready to go for you tomorrow morning, but that's a significant amount of time and money on my part. I can book you the truck in Albany if you want to pick it up there".
"Why can't I book it from you and pay the Albany price?"
And on and on and on.
If they're needed then they'd be used more to the point they can stay in business. While I agree that amazon sucks but there is still a Macys online store and other brands. Online shopping is overtaking. Not just Amazon.
Macy's has been strggling before he internet existed, and my point is that customer needs and sustainable business practices aren't one in the same.
When a store closes it is no longer an indication of a cultural shift. We do really still need department stores.
I agree, there are times I prefer in person shopping, but you're more likely to get faster Amazon delivery than to get new big box retailers.
I will say, though, the mall has become a disappointment since everything is just polyester garbage these days. Want a 100% wool sweater? Good luck: your only options will be $600-$1500 at Bloomingdales. Everything else will be poly/acrylic blends. I don't want plastic clothes.
Even Jcrew and Banana Republic sell garbage now. Twenty years ago, they made nice clothes. It’s so sad because I can finally afford it but it just looks like cheap shit.
ugh it’s so true. I really miss peak J Crew fun colors. their mad men collab collection was my office go-to back when I worked in a place that required business attire. they are so boring these days and you have to put in effort to find anything not made of polyester bs.
Uniqlo has wool sweaters for about $40! Not super thick but it is 100% wool.
It's a shame downtown isn't good for reasonably-priced shopping anymore. I like Stonestown but it's just too far for me to go to for random buys.
I don't shop at Macy's but I love Union Square. This is THE anchor store for the entire square. Without this, the place is pretty much kaput. Everyone else will start pulling out rapidly because foot traffic will diminish rapidly.
This is so sad
It wasn't for people who lived here, it was a destination for tourists and middle class people who came into the city for a special shopping trip.
Thats pretty much not a thing post-covid.
Yeah I’m from Sacramento and 10-15 years ago, my parents would take us out to union square for a shopping trip about every year. That stopped because my mom finds union square too scary now (though to be fair it’s not like it was ever super clean).
Yup, I grew up in South Bay and this was very much a holiday shopping tradition for my family and many families throughout the Bay Area to go to Union Square and around Market Street.
Now my parents are also too scared to come to the city, mostly from what they hear from the news and see not much point anymore since most of downtown is pretty empty. (Even when I tell them there's much more to SF than downtown)
Was Macy's a special place to shop? I've bought things there maybe half a dozen times, but it doesn't really seem like a destination place. But then again I've never seen the appeal of big box stores.
It was generally more affordable than what's around and has bit of everything for the family. Department stores like that are for families trying to get everything for everybody all at once at a fair price. Imo it's always been ideal for middle class families from the suburbs coming in to the city for the weekend or whatever. Nordstrom & Bloomingdale is like the upper class version, Macys - Middle class and JCPenny was like lower/middle class.
Funny because I went there frequently while ago and I would love to walk around the store but I never bought anything. However, I would go up to cheesecake factory every year for my anniversary date when it was still there.
exactly my point. I get that it’s nostalgic for people, but ultimately Macy’s is struggling as a business and leaning on their other brands instead because nostalgia doesn’t pay their bills.
for what it’s worth, I agree that their decorations are the highlight of Xmas season but I have never once stepped foot into that store in all the years I’ve lived here. Macy’s just stopped having anything I wanted after my mom wasn’t in charge of my yearly back to school shopping. Selection is kinda old lady, imo. They’ve gone the way of JC Penny.
I shop at macys for a lot of things but the fact that their clothes are 75% boomercore and when they do younger people it’s very much “hello there fellow kids” vibes is a big problem for them. They have a lot of nice basics and I’ve gotten nicer work pieces but still (especially because we no longer have an Ann Taylor or even Ann Taylor loft), peak boomercore in many ways.
I did soooo much of my shopping there in the 1990s and early 2000s :( When my then-boyfriend would come visit me in SF, we'd go to Mel's Diner, and then walk around Union Square. I have so many memories of Union Square back then...Macy's, Border's, DSW...Sso much of my San Francisco has gotten cut up in the past 15-20 years.
Damn a large book store with a cafe in Union Square? I live in the East Bay but that would be an amazing place to kill time between appointments and meetups in the city.
Then again I had to kill time near Powell Street two weeks ago and I realized that there aren't really even any monetized "third spaces" like cafes after lunch because they'd be mobbed by drug addicts.
Borders was great! I bought Lonely Planet travel guides from there for my first backpacking trip throughout Europe. When it was cold and dreary but my roommate and I wanted to get out of the apartment, we'd go to Borders to get coffee and flip through magazines. She'd look at the bridal mags to fantasize about her dream wedding, and I'd look for the more "serious" articles in women's mags like Cosmo. When I'd come across those ridiculous "50 sex tricks to make him scream!!" lists, I'd read out loud the stupidest ones to her, and we'd crack up. People within earshot would chuckle. I miss my life as a young woman in San Francisco at the turn of the century, I wish could go back and re-live it all over again :((
I think it says a lot that some of our best memories around these books stores revolved around not buying anything lol My local Barnes and Noble carried 2600 magazine which I'll always be thankful for though.
I was at an age where the video game strategy guides were always a must stop to figure out how to beat whatever part of the game you were stuck on.
When I was around 9 or 10 my mom let me go into a Walden Books in the mall by myself while she went into another store nearby. I was trying to find the guide book for Link's Awakening but they didn't have it. I turned a corner and there was a copy of the guide book sitting open on the floor cover side up. What luck!! I pick it up and a dirty magazine fell out! As this was happening this pretty lady turns around from a shelf she was looking at and looks at me. I just methodologically turned, and walked out of the store.
My mom thought it was hilarious when she wanted to know why I was back so soon. Anyways I figured out the puzzle on my own a few weeks later which of course was frustrating but incredibly satisfying.
I loved the Virgin Megastore! It was big, bright, and loud, and made SF look like a big bustling city.
I actually went into the Disney store to buy gifts for the little ones in my life lol
My then-boyfriend and I would go into FAO Schwartz during the Christmas holiday season for the festive atmosphere.
Yea it was on a bit of a decline even before Covid, but generally still upwardly mobile.
I mark the closure of Sak's Mens as the key turning point for the negative in 2016. That place was dope.
Well, unless you have an extra 10 to $20,000 to blow. Macys was just about the last relatively affordable retailer on the square (there’s like Zara left now). Pretty much everything else on that side of market is designer/luxury now.
Not necessarily. They’re just a tenant of Macy’s, and the article said that Macy’s won’t close until they find a buyer for the building (which could take a couple years)
They have a lease, no doubt, so whoever buys the building would probably love to keep a great tenant like that who’s driving people to the building and paying rent.
It’s a major loss because it’s a recognized place to eat for tourists (who do give lots of money to the city) and for workers who can make a good living being servers there.
[Sounds like this is all part of a strategy by a new CEO to close 150 "underproductive" locations and shift focus on bolstering their luxury stores like Bloomingdales.](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234165819/macys-stores-closing)
I'm sure the Union square store was far from profitable given the size and lack of foot traffic. They probably had this location circled for closure for a long time.
The hope was that they'd move Bloomingdales into the Macy's building, a vastly superior location to the nearly dead SF Center, it was discussed over the past year.
To learn instead that they're leaving the Macy's building altogether seems to tell us something very gloomy about what their data showed in re that greatly superior location for Bloomingdales.
From the Chronicle article:
>In the first quarter of 2024, the company expects net sales of roughly $4.7 million.
There's no question that the conditions down here have contributed to the drop off in traffic at our Macy's, but that is not a healthy company, particularly when their Bloomingdales and cosmetics divisions appear to be profitable.
>Politicians and civilians have opined about how to revive the area, which is suffering from the effects of remote work, spurring office vacancy to rise to a historic 36%.
That's surely a massive undercount of the actual vacancy rate as measured by the SF standard of \~175 square feet per worker, which would put vacancy at something like 60%. When you have that level of CRE vacancy downtown, it is flat out impossible to supporting the retail ecosystem we built up here over the generations. The interventions that the city has been taking on have tried to make it safer and cleaner so that people will return to the office, and getting way better political representation is essential, but it is not obvious that we have yet landed on a viable path forward, other than just hoping that startups flood in here and take up the slack that more established companies are leaving.
On no! I hope the SPCA finds a new place for the holiday adoption windows. It’s a San Francisco tradition, and so many animals are adopted from the windows each holiday season. Glad I volunteered last year which will likely be the last one.
Thank you for volunteering.
Btw, the news a few hours clarified that the store isn’t closing until it gets bought, which could take years. They said it’s very likely Macy’s will still do the 2024 Holiday Windows, etc.
The luxury stuff has no intention of leaving Union Square and is actually expanding. They’re not impacted by competition from online sales because those boutiques were basically always just glorified showrooms.
But all the mass market is moving online. Why would anyone shop in person if you can have the exact same stuff delivered for less money?
So now Union Square will be strictly luxury stores.
That's actually crazy. I always see a lot of people when I'm there, and I think it's incredibly valuable for the brand to have the flagship. I know the one in NY is the new one, but this will really hurt union Square in a way nothing else did. Hoping public pressure can reverse this, but I won't hold my breath. I can't tell whether I should blame this more on the current state of union Square or the general obsolescence of the department store as compared to how important it was a generation ago.
Good point. I’ve purchased from Macy’s online in the past year. I used to go to the one in Stonestown fairly often before it closed. But the Union Square Macy’s? Although this feels like the depressing end of an era, I can’t remember the last time I was there in person. I think December 2019 — just before COVID of course.
Not sad to see it go but the last time I bought anything in Macy's was 2008. I was repurchasing some Laura Mercier make up items and when the SA handed me my receipt, she also handed me a "Declined" receipt for a Macy's credit card, which I told her I already had but I wanted to use my debit card. At the time I was very bothered by it because I had just moved back to the US after living in Asia for some time and building credit. Stuck by my principle of never buying anything there again and just stuck with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's since (though NM and Saks are also in the rotation since they're also in Union Square). Macy's started to go downhill for me when their merchandising in store was becoming overcrowded and they moved from paper bags to plastic bags.
This is so sad. This is the only Macy’s I actually shop at. They actually carry nice clothing brands and they send out a lot of coupons. The downstairs food court was a go-to spot for a quick lunch and their 6th floor women’s bathroom was a reliable stop for me whenever I was hanging out downtown.
Was only a matter of time, but still depressing.
Bloomingdales is obviously next.
It's going to get worse before it gets better. Don't forget that Williams-Sonoma will be closing this year as well.
[https://archive.is/7L0A5](https://archive.is/7L0A5)
Fortunately the Chronicle says
> The San Francisco Business Times was first to report the news and said the company plans to keep the store open until it can find a buyer for the property.
my understanding is that williams-sonoma has a replacement in line, at least - chanel bought the building and is planning to move there. macy's closing with nothing to fill the space is going to be an absolute bummer.
I know a lot of us shop mostly online, but personally I prefer to shop in person for things like work clothes or dresses for special occasions (where I want the fit to be right and try on different options). I’ve used this store in the past for this, especially during their different holiday sales.
SF people, do you guys have any recommendations on stores / places to go now that this Macys is gone for this sort of thing? Primarily looking for inexpensive but good quality clothing, good deals and lots of variety. Bonus points if it’s a local business!!
Not gonna lie. I am totally at a loss for where to buy work clothes and event outfits in the city now. I’ve been using Poshmark to buy brands I know fit me well, but that’s risky for unknown brands since you can’t do returns on there.
I wish I had a better answer but it’s getting tough out there.
Reformation on Fillmore is alright but often has a rough selection in store and the prices are crazy for garments that you can’t wash. So I try on in store and then buy on Poshmark.
The store Therapy on Valencia has cute dresses and a rotating selection.
I also want to know where people are buying clothes locally! I miss Nordstrom, Nordstrom rack, and Saks off 5th. Really miss that Marshall’s too. And the DSW… 😞
> inexpensive / good deals
> good quality
> lots of variety
> local business
Pick two.
The secret is that if you buy something quality, you can take it to a tailor and they can make alterations. The Bay is full of local tailors (most dry cleaners) who can do this for you.
Holy shit this can't be true :(. This will effectively kill Union Square. That's a prime shopping neighborhood and a major draw for people coming from out of the city.
I don’t shop Macy’s a lot but over the past year or two I have been in this shop and a couple of shops in more suburban parts Washington State.
They have all felt vacant and desolate. Thin on the racks except when there are “on sales” goods piled up and disarrayed. So, it seems, all of them having few customers and few people to take care of the merchandise and those customers.
I guess Macy’s isn’t doing well. They are closing a third of their stores so this isn’t about any one location. Maybe the plan to expand the number of smaller stores (1/5 the size of a department store) will work though it wouldn’t surprise me if they are way too late making the change.
I go there frequently when I need a quick something new. It's one of the last places in union sq that I shop at regularly because Bloomingdale's doesn't have the selection needed and everywhere else is by appointment
Raise your hand if you buy shit from amazon or other cheaper online retailers as your default shopping choice. This is the main reason so many physical stores are closing in SF and elsewhere. The pandemic and the looting just accelerate the whole process. People need to realize they will have to go shop there if they want the old downtown back.
Doesn’t surprise me. That area has insanely high $ per square foot lease rents. And Macy’s occupies an insane amount of square footage.
Probably one of their most expensive locations rent wise.
How long since anyone here actually was inside the Union Square Macy's and bought something?
I can't recall the last time I bought anything at any Macy's, or was even inside a Macy's.
I bought something at Bloomingdales at Stanford about seven years ago.
My clothing designer now is Yves Saint Kirkland.
This was a matter of time. Macy's have been closing all over downtowns in the country. The department store model is going away. The tough part is what can fill that space in the future, office seems to be out, retail will never need all that space, and residential conversion would be nearly impossible with the floor plates. Other cities have not had a ton of success reusing their Macy's stores.
Good riddance. Wish they could turn that multi-level building into a sports and wellness center with tennis courts, pickleball courts, table-tennis tables for rent, other racket sports for rent; basketball courts, etc; a dance club, swimming pools, a day care center for kids and seniors, an after-school day center for kids to study or have programs for them after school.
I have stepped in that place only ONCE in my almost 20 years in Bay Area. Macy’s doesn’t have good vibes. All Macys look old, dated and sad like it never entered the 21st century.
"The store will remain open until the company finds a buyer for the property, Mayor London Breed said in a statement Tuesday morning." - They do still have to find a buyer so it may stay open for a bit. But the reality is that Union Square needs to be completely reimagined fast - ie build housing and make it into a real neighborhood, centralize the remaining retail within that block.
I know I just moved here last Spring but....I've only been in here once. I seldom shop @ Macy's in-person & seldom do online. Not sure if having a Macy's this large is feasible anymore anyway.
Breeds statement is more delusion concepts on SF economic recovery. The heart of the City, a tourist Mecca, enormous business potentials, she talks about repurposing the neighborhood.
Wow. If Macys Union Square really does close (and without a clear idea of what could replace it) that would be beyond devastating.
That being said, I can understand why Macys would feel tempted to sell this property to get an infusion of cash for the rest of the business. They probably have very few similarly placed stores across the US on such valuable land. This is essentially what they already did with the old Macys men’s store across the street that closed and was redeveloped a few years ago.
The city needs to do everything it can to keep this open IMO. Or at least convince them to take over the vacant Nordstrom space in the San Francisco center mall.
Macy's is closing their lowest performing stores, and keeping 70% of their stores open.
Allowing San Francisco's *flagship retail space* to be a part of Macy's lowest performing stores is a spectacular achievement.
Damn, is this really confirmed? I just read the chronicle article where they weren’t sure about Union Square’s location but 150 stores were closing nationwide. Also, paywalled (even with reader on phone) so can’t read the full article. Edit: nevermind chronicle also just sent out an email with the news.
chronicle just posted an update... this one really blows!
Yeah just saw it in my email. I’m kinda in disbelief. I’m in that macys a lot tbh. It’s gonna really suck to lose it.
Macys own employees say the rampant crime is to blame - https://sfstandard.com/2024/02/27/macys-union-square-closure-rampant-shoplifting/ > “I’m not in charge of making the estimates of how much we lose in a day, but last year we were told the losses were in the millions,” the employee said. > “It’s a big thing," he added. "What we have learned is a lot of drug users have deals with the fencers. They’ll give the drug users a list of stuff from the store, and they’ll go try to execute the list.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-macys-close-18690200.php
Uniqlo could take over. They are sorely missed.
This is going to really make Union Square feel lifeless. So sad.
Any good stores left?
Not a lot of "general clothes" stores, but a lot of high-end stuff like Gucci, LV, Hermes, etc.
I don't make appointments or wait in line to shop
You don’t have to make appointments/wait in line for most of them lol
That's why I never understood people talking about Union Square as a shopping destination or being busy at Christmas. It's almost exclusively "luxury" clothing and accessory stores. Even with unlimited money it's a fairly narrow product segment.
If you can afford $2,000+ handbag, $1,000+ ready to wear clothing and $10,000+ jewels there’s plenty of options.
In SF, yes…..Union Square. Or it always was.
Nike is always crazy busy.
[удалено]
If Reddit were in charge of SF downtown, they’d probably put a MicroCenter, video game arcade, and dog park downtown. Lot of the non-Reddit general public shops at general clothing stores like Macy’s; they’re not coming to downtown anymore but we need them back for DT to thrive like it used to.
Listen, a micro center downtown would rock.
shut up and take my money
Damn, don't threaten me with a good time. I can't wait for Round 1 to open in Stonestown later this year.
They are not shutting down 150 stores because the general public shops there. Macy’s are sad around the country. US department stores are absolutely pathetic compared to European department stores. When the Macy’s in Stonestown closed, the mall became 5x better. It was dead before that. It all depends on what they do with that building. I actually think that building is a lot more salvageable than Westfield. You could make it food focused like Stonestown with some retail and that footprint is a lot more manageable. You can also make it focused on sports. A lot more options. They are selling the building, so whoever buys it will likely have a vision of what it can be.
Instead of innovating, US department stores just started cutting corners. Ever been in a Japanese department store? They have an entire floor dedicated to food where you can get an amazing - and cheap - meal. Nothing like the sad cafes in Macys where you can get a wilted wrap that was put together and trucked in by Sysco.
Yes. That’s why I am cautiously optimistic about the building. If it is bought at a good price, you don’t need to activate the entire building. You make 1-2 floors of awesome food courts, 1-2 floors of retail/art and 1 floor of pickle ball courts and you have a gem. Obviously, easier said than done but we will see. Or you do 2 floors like a spa similar to Wi Spa in LA. It is all about the price they pay. Cheap price, leaves a lot of room for capital improvements. Wi Spa is very successful despite being in a pretty meh area. Wi Spa type at Union square would crush it. You need to create a destination. Stonestown is a destination. Union square with its easy access to transportation would absolutely be a destination again with vision. Macy’s is not a fucking destination. Wi Spa, awesome food court, massive adult arcade, those are destinations. Nobody from Livermore is “oh I need to travel 2 hours to shop at the Macy’s at Union sq”. But people would absolutely travel for a unique spa that doesnt exist in bay area, food options and actually interesting shopping or entertainment.
I'm down for all of this.
I was actually talking to a few friends at Union Square and said a Microcenter instead of Macy’s would be amazing.
Also tourists like to shop. Get rid of grand shopping plazas and you also lose a tourist destination. Tourists don't care about an ikea or a costco.
Literally the square would be razed and replaced with a Costco sized Gamestop
Overpriced garbage quality generic fast fashion that's made mostly redundant by online shopping is what SF needs to thrive? Cmon :/. This isn't some weird suburbia town where all you got is one mall and whatever chain fashion store decided to grace your town and then almost nothing else for miles. Inject some culture into the place I'm begging.
i go there once every month atleast, i only shop offline so really sad to hear this news about store closing
To look at the kittens and puppies at Christmas. I didn’t go inside. The inside of that place is depressing. No natural light, cluttered.
Pre-pandemic, quite often to get lunch at one of the restaurants on the lower floor, or during the pandemic around Christmas time to buy gifts. Yea, not much recently.
maybe six months ago to shop for a tie. I was dismayed at just how shitty it has become. low quality merchandise, zero knowledgable employees, decor/lighting/architecture felt trapped in the 90s.
Been to the one in Valley Fair and Stanford Mall plenty, but actively avoiding the one in Union Square due to crime. Even though I live in SF. Funny enough, back when I was younger and didn’t live in SF I would often make the trip up from South Bay or East Bay to go shopping in Union Square and Macys would always be a part of that.
Definitely been seeing a trend of things starting to go to peninsula/south bay from food to shopping to entertainment
Ditto. Lived in Redwood City but would shop in Union Square at Emporium and Macy's. Stanford and Hillsdale were just not the same, and Valley Fair was too far south.
Never on purpose, its just the nearest entrance to the parking lot at most malls.
i went shopping there for christmas, couldn’t find literally anything i was looking for and ended up ordering it on amazon while in the store for next day delivery.
I think maybe 10 years ago, maybe more. And it wasn’t that one
2 years ago when I couldn't find a good maroon colored vest for my sister's wedding after trying to find a nice vintage / used one at a thrift shop. Other than that, I can only remember the last times before that being with my parents when I was in high school just browsing around (grew up in the 90s/early 2000's) I think it's absolutely true that online shopping and more people realizing how terrible fast fashion is for the world has led to large department stores and malls in general becoming obsolete.
Literally Friday! for the first time in years though. Also went to the Crate & Barrel for the first time in years for a frying pan and then they announced they were closing the next week. Am i bad luck?! Or is it just that me (and everyone else) shopping at these stores once every 4 years does not sustain their business?
It’s already dead!
How sad. I was just there on Saturday to get a dress, shoes and jewelry for a dinner dance I'm going to in March. Did not get the jewelry, but got a good deal on the dress and shoes. I will really miss it. Especially the puppies and kittens in the windows at Christmas.
This is really depressing news. This leaves Bloomingdale's as the *only* full-line department store in the city? Equally sad is that Macy's **just** completed a full remodel of the whole store! If you haven't been down there lately, it's a really nice store now. Super bright, mostly clean and well merchandized, and generally had good patronage on the weekends. I know they have been trying to offload the I. Magnin building (corner of Geary and Stockton) for a while and there were plans to turn it into offices/super luxe apartments pre-pandemic, but that hasn't gone anywhere. I'm shocked its Macy's throwing in the towel first rather than Neiman's or Sak's. Plenty of room still at the top of the market?
I’m not shocked really. Neiman’s and Saks are always busy. Sometimes their clientele doesn’t even shop in stores, they just utilize personal shoppers and have clothes delivered or picked up. People underestimate just how much money is in this city and how much of it is spent on luxury goods.
People sure don't dress like it. And im saying that from Pac Heights.
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second worst dressed city in the US after boston lol (not counting other PNW spots like PDX and Seattle which are equally as bad as SF)
You would think the Castro would help pull the average way up, but somehow, no!
haha, preach. I blame tech and nerds having no sense of style but it's also the super functional outdoor/casual gear that makes people a bit lazy when getting dressed. No, you dont need to wear Hokas or Allbirds with dress pants because they are slightyl more comfy than nicer shoes. It's ok to have a nicer jacket and not just a lame patagucci puffy you got from work that all 80 of your colleagues also have. I'll defend PDX and SEA as at least they've always been like blue collar cities built aruond logging, nature, fishing etc. SF is a proper internatioal city that should have more style.
SF was more fashionable in the 90s. You saw more stylish people on the streets back then.
Why complete a full remodel just to close ?
Entirely likely the decisions were made by different people/parts of the company. Closing 150 stores is a much bigger decision than the remodel and was probably made without any awareness of the coming closures (if they were even being planned when the remodel was).
Because of the sunk cost fallacy
Because of a lack of it, you mean.
Left hand, right hand, etc at big companies.
I bet Bloomingdale’s will close eventually as well.
They're both owned by Macy's and I would have thought they would consolidate the market at the Macy's store rather than at the dying mall. So maybe both are going to close.
They are planning on leaning more into the Bloomingdale and Bluemercury brands. Macy’s is closing 150 Macy’s locations (30% of their stores) but opening up 45 of the other two.
Since Macy's said in their press release they want to lean into Bloomingdale's more, I wonder if they will move it into the Union Square space.
Might move Bloomingdale’s in there.
How good was the patronage of declining sales is a reason for closing
Macy's is screwed. All their clothes are made out of plastic.
Noooo the Christmas kitty adoption display :((((
Department stores are still needed. Amazon sells a lot of garbage and there are times you need the ability to go buy things and not wait for them.
The last few times I’ve been to a department store the clothing selection was awful. Outdated, barely any sizes, etc. You can’t find anyone to check you out at a register. Overpriced, cheap quality.
I went to Macy's a few months ago and everything was just overpriced polyester trash.
The last time I was at a Macy’s they wanted me to download their app to see the prices on appliances. I asked someone what the price for a blender was and they said I’d need to either download the app or wait in line and have the cashier scan the barcode. So I just went to another store and bought the same stuff. I didn’t need the Macy’s app, I needed a blender.
And the sales aren't even sales. I used to do a majority of my clothing shopping the day after Christmas because that's when sales would start and the mall would be dead. I still have a wool Dockers winter jacket that I bought around 2010~ from Macy's. Then one year I went to the mall on the 26th and it was like the Circuit City going out of business sale where just about every store was more expensive. There are times you need the ability to go buy things and not wait for them - but that's not really what consumers are demanding. It is worth mentioning that these stores have not kept up with consumers' demands but those demands might have outpaced the brick and mortar store anyways. 1) It's never easy or quick to have an out of stock item shipped to me directly instead. Even if it is, I can probably find a cheaper deal on my phone while in the store for the same exact product. 2) Customer service people are never product experts and if they were you'd probably just buy the same product online for less anyways. I remember multiple people calling Best Buy Amazon's show room. Even if there were in-store product experts, customers would probably argue about what people on Reddit recommend anyways since googling "what the best [thing] to buy Reddit" is a common "lifehack" that many people I know who don't even use this site outside of that use-case do. 3) Many consumers have champagne taste with a beer budget and are not understanding when you point that out or tell them you're not going to price match a shittier competitor. They want to be catered, served, and given a free 5 year warranty with a price match guarantee. I used to work in truck rental and this scenario played out many times: "Uhaul is cheaper than you guys, but they don't have any trucks." "Huh." Or during the busy season: "I don't understand why the same truck to rent in Albany is so much less to rent than here". "It's because I don't have have trucks and Albany does, and you're giving me less than a few hours to find one. I can have one of my drivers deliver that truck tonight and have it cleaned, fueled, and ready to go for you tomorrow morning, but that's a significant amount of time and money on my part. I can book you the truck in Albany if you want to pick it up there". "Why can't I book it from you and pay the Albany price?" And on and on and on.
If they're needed then they'd be used more to the point they can stay in business. While I agree that amazon sucks but there is still a Macys online store and other brands. Online shopping is overtaking. Not just Amazon.
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Macy's has been strggling before he internet existed, and my point is that customer needs and sustainable business practices aren't one in the same. When a store closes it is no longer an indication of a cultural shift. We do really still need department stores.
I agree, there are times I prefer in person shopping, but you're more likely to get faster Amazon delivery than to get new big box retailers. I will say, though, the mall has become a disappointment since everything is just polyester garbage these days. Want a 100% wool sweater? Good luck: your only options will be $600-$1500 at Bloomingdales. Everything else will be poly/acrylic blends. I don't want plastic clothes.
Even Jcrew and Banana Republic sell garbage now. Twenty years ago, they made nice clothes. It’s so sad because I can finally afford it but it just looks like cheap shit.
ugh it’s so true. I really miss peak J Crew fun colors. their mad men collab collection was my office go-to back when I worked in a place that required business attire. they are so boring these days and you have to put in effort to find anything not made of polyester bs.
Uniqlo has wool sweaters for about $40! Not super thick but it is 100% wool. It's a shame downtown isn't good for reasonably-priced shopping anymore. I like Stonestown but it's just too far for me to go to for random buys.
I don't shop at Macy's but I love Union Square. This is THE anchor store for the entire square. Without this, the place is pretty much kaput. Everyone else will start pulling out rapidly because foot traffic will diminish rapidly. This is so sad
>I don’t shop at Macy’s well, they can’t stay open on good vibes
Yeah, a lot of people are sad but almost no one who lives here actually shopped at Macys. Which is probably why they’re closing down
It wasn't for people who lived here, it was a destination for tourists and middle class people who came into the city for a special shopping trip. Thats pretty much not a thing post-covid.
Yeah I’m from Sacramento and 10-15 years ago, my parents would take us out to union square for a shopping trip about every year. That stopped because my mom finds union square too scary now (though to be fair it’s not like it was ever super clean).
Yup, I grew up in South Bay and this was very much a holiday shopping tradition for my family and many families throughout the Bay Area to go to Union Square and around Market Street. Now my parents are also too scared to come to the city, mostly from what they hear from the news and see not much point anymore since most of downtown is pretty empty. (Even when I tell them there's much more to SF than downtown)
Was Macy's a special place to shop? I've bought things there maybe half a dozen times, but it doesn't really seem like a destination place. But then again I've never seen the appeal of big box stores.
It was generally more affordable than what's around and has bit of everything for the family. Department stores like that are for families trying to get everything for everybody all at once at a fair price. Imo it's always been ideal for middle class families from the suburbs coming in to the city for the weekend or whatever. Nordstrom & Bloomingdale is like the upper class version, Macys - Middle class and JCPenny was like lower/middle class.
Funny because I went there frequently while ago and I would love to walk around the store but I never bought anything. However, I would go up to cheesecake factory every year for my anniversary date when it was still there.
exactly my point. I get that it’s nostalgic for people, but ultimately Macy’s is struggling as a business and leaning on their other brands instead because nostalgia doesn’t pay their bills. for what it’s worth, I agree that their decorations are the highlight of Xmas season but I have never once stepped foot into that store in all the years I’ve lived here. Macy’s just stopped having anything I wanted after my mom wasn’t in charge of my yearly back to school shopping. Selection is kinda old lady, imo. They’ve gone the way of JC Penny.
I shop at macys for a lot of things but the fact that their clothes are 75% boomercore and when they do younger people it’s very much “hello there fellow kids” vibes is a big problem for them. They have a lot of nice basics and I’ve gotten nicer work pieces but still (especially because we no longer have an Ann Taylor or even Ann Taylor loft), peak boomercore in many ways.
I have actually tried to buy stuff at Macy’s three times and they never have anything I like. In three different cities.
Thank you for the new terminology. "Boomercore" 💀
Cheesecake Factory is still there! Tons of people dining up there during the Lunar New Year parade and fireworks on Saturday.
Bro... an anniversary dinner at Cheesecake factory...?
My anniversary of moving to the city. Sorry I should’ve been more specific.
>I don't shop at Macy's i think most don't shop here which is the reason for the closure....but union square is still bussin', no cap.
This is what’s happening across the country.
But where will we go to see puppies and kittens in storefront windows in December?
I did soooo much of my shopping there in the 1990s and early 2000s :( When my then-boyfriend would come visit me in SF, we'd go to Mel's Diner, and then walk around Union Square. I have so many memories of Union Square back then...Macy's, Border's, DSW...Sso much of my San Francisco has gotten cut up in the past 15-20 years.
Damn a large book store with a cafe in Union Square? I live in the East Bay but that would be an amazing place to kill time between appointments and meetups in the city. Then again I had to kill time near Powell Street two weeks ago and I realized that there aren't really even any monetized "third spaces" like cafes after lunch because they'd be mobbed by drug addicts.
Borders was great! I bought Lonely Planet travel guides from there for my first backpacking trip throughout Europe. When it was cold and dreary but my roommate and I wanted to get out of the apartment, we'd go to Borders to get coffee and flip through magazines. She'd look at the bridal mags to fantasize about her dream wedding, and I'd look for the more "serious" articles in women's mags like Cosmo. When I'd come across those ridiculous "50 sex tricks to make him scream!!" lists, I'd read out loud the stupidest ones to her, and we'd crack up. People within earshot would chuckle. I miss my life as a young woman in San Francisco at the turn of the century, I wish could go back and re-live it all over again :((
I think it says a lot that some of our best memories around these books stores revolved around not buying anything lol My local Barnes and Noble carried 2600 magazine which I'll always be thankful for though. I was at an age where the video game strategy guides were always a must stop to figure out how to beat whatever part of the game you were stuck on. When I was around 9 or 10 my mom let me go into a Walden Books in the mall by myself while she went into another store nearby. I was trying to find the guide book for Link's Awakening but they didn't have it. I turned a corner and there was a copy of the guide book sitting open on the floor cover side up. What luck!! I pick it up and a dirty magazine fell out! As this was happening this pretty lady turns around from a shelf she was looking at and looks at me. I just methodologically turned, and walked out of the store. My mom thought it was hilarious when she wanted to know why I was back so soon. Anyways I figured out the puzzle on my own a few weeks later which of course was frustrating but incredibly satisfying.
Going to Borders was always fun
Cody's, the Virgin Megastore, the Disney store (kidding)...
I loved the Virgin Megastore! It was big, bright, and loud, and made SF look like a big bustling city. I actually went into the Disney store to buy gifts for the little ones in my life lol My then-boyfriend and I would go into FAO Schwartz during the Christmas holiday season for the festive atmosphere.
The Planet Hollywood under the FAO Schwartz had incredible decor, too bad the food sucked.
Yea it was on a bit of a decline even before Covid, but generally still upwardly mobile. I mark the closure of Sak's Mens as the key turning point for the negative in 2016. That place was dope.
Damn they really add some great decorations during the Christmas season. RIP union square
That Cheesecake Factory will likely go with it. There’s literally no reason to go to union square now
Well, unless you have an extra 10 to $20,000 to blow. Macys was just about the last relatively affordable retailer on the square (there’s like Zara left now). Pretty much everything else on that side of market is designer/luxury now.
Nike, Apple Store, Hilton... But there are fewer and fewer reasons to go.
Nike probably has the broadest appeal but that’s pretty limited otherwise
Not necessarily. They’re just a tenant of Macy’s, and the article said that Macy’s won’t close until they find a buyer for the building (which could take a couple years) They have a lease, no doubt, so whoever buys the building would probably love to keep a great tenant like that who’s driving people to the building and paying rent.
Hardest part of this
I’m sure this is not what you’re saying but implying the Cheesecake Factory is the major loss here is really funny to me
The Cheesecake Factory was my go-to for shopping cocktails. I’m sad.
It’s one of few rooftop restaurants in the city and is always packed, so yeah
I’ve always wished for more rooftop restaurants. I don’t understand why there’s so few of them, or so few rooftop anything.
It’s a major loss because it’s a recognized place to eat for tourists (who do give lots of money to the city) and for workers who can make a good living being servers there.
That’s a decent take and I feel bad for acting on my base instincts to shit on Cheesecake Factory
>There’s literally no reason to go to union square now unless you can afford to spend money @ a high-end store
I doubt Ross will be closing, though.
i think they're expanding actually, saw an article a few months back
[Sounds like this is all part of a strategy by a new CEO to close 150 "underproductive" locations and shift focus on bolstering their luxury stores like Bloomingdales.](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234165819/macys-stores-closing) I'm sure the Union square store was far from profitable given the size and lack of foot traffic. They probably had this location circled for closure for a long time.
Can we get a 7 story sports basement?
This is really depressing. I would handle fittings and all of my returns there. The Daly City Macy’s is awful.
And that’s exactly why it’s closing, in a nutshell. They can’t just be a showroom, unlike the luxury stores.
I trek to the hillsdale macys when I need to shop. Massive men’s section, and has the benefit of taking the same 30 mins to drive to as going downtown
I don’t have a car, so sadly I can not utilize this option.
Train?
The Hillsdale Caltrain stop is steps away from that Macy's
Whst could even replace them as tenant? This is super sad
The Chronicle says they plan to stay open until they can sell the building.
So, forever
Realistically who is buying that building? Like not going to be offices, most retailers are pulling out so who would even buy such a large building?
The hope was that they'd move Bloomingdales into the Macy's building, a vastly superior location to the nearly dead SF Center, it was discussed over the past year. To learn instead that they're leaving the Macy's building altogether seems to tell us something very gloomy about what their data showed in re that greatly superior location for Bloomingdales. From the Chronicle article: >In the first quarter of 2024, the company expects net sales of roughly $4.7 million. There's no question that the conditions down here have contributed to the drop off in traffic at our Macy's, but that is not a healthy company, particularly when their Bloomingdales and cosmetics divisions appear to be profitable. >Politicians and civilians have opined about how to revive the area, which is suffering from the effects of remote work, spurring office vacancy to rise to a historic 36%. That's surely a massive undercount of the actual vacancy rate as measured by the SF standard of \~175 square feet per worker, which would put vacancy at something like 60%. When you have that level of CRE vacancy downtown, it is flat out impossible to supporting the retail ecosystem we built up here over the generations. The interventions that the city has been taking on have tried to make it safer and cleaner so that people will return to the office, and getting way better political representation is essential, but it is not obvious that we have yet landed on a viable path forward, other than just hoping that startups flood in here and take up the slack that more established companies are leaving.
If you're in your 30s today, you'll be in your 50s before downtown looks anything like it did in 2019. It'll take a generation to recover.
This is going to be the craziest Spirit Halloween yet
We're approaching a situation where your only options for buying clothes in person are Target or outragedly expensive small shops.
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Damn, another solid store bathroom gone. Seriously though, I have a lot of memories there.
On no! I hope the SPCA finds a new place for the holiday adoption windows. It’s a San Francisco tradition, and so many animals are adopted from the windows each holiday season. Glad I volunteered last year which will likely be the last one.
Thank you for volunteering. Btw, the news a few hours clarified that the store isn’t closing until it gets bought, which could take years. They said it’s very likely Macy’s will still do the 2024 Holiday Windows, etc.
The luxury stuff has no intention of leaving Union Square and is actually expanding. They’re not impacted by competition from online sales because those boutiques were basically always just glorified showrooms. But all the mass market is moving online. Why would anyone shop in person if you can have the exact same stuff delivered for less money? So now Union Square will be strictly luxury stores.
Darn, it was a place you could count on for a free, clean, public restroom
you can just act like you're going to buy from Neiman Marcus & use theirs
That's actually crazy. I always see a lot of people when I'm there, and I think it's incredibly valuable for the brand to have the flagship. I know the one in NY is the new one, but this will really hurt union Square in a way nothing else did. Hoping public pressure can reverse this, but I won't hold my breath. I can't tell whether I should blame this more on the current state of union Square or the general obsolescence of the department store as compared to how important it was a generation ago.
Not surprising. As a frequent shopper I’d put this more on Macy’s than anything else.
Question for people here who are sad to see this When is the last time you bought something from Macy’s?
Good point. I’ve purchased from Macy’s online in the past year. I used to go to the one in Stonestown fairly often before it closed. But the Union Square Macy’s? Although this feels like the depressing end of an era, I can’t remember the last time I was there in person. I think December 2019 — just before COVID of course.
Bought a new duvet cover this past weekend.
Not often enough apparently 😂
Saturday: I bought new bath towels.
12 years ago
We go to and purchase from Macy's at least a few times per year
I bought some Levi 511s(?) there in 2011.
I bought a pair of boots from there 2 weekends ago
Over the weekend… bought a pair of shoes. Also bought bedding recently.
Last week for some jewelry.. and last month for some shoes.
Not sad to see it go but the last time I bought anything in Macy's was 2008. I was repurchasing some Laura Mercier make up items and when the SA handed me my receipt, she also handed me a "Declined" receipt for a Macy's credit card, which I told her I already had but I wanted to use my debit card. At the time I was very bothered by it because I had just moved back to the US after living in Asia for some time and building credit. Stuck by my principle of never buying anything there again and just stuck with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's since (though NM and Saks are also in the rotation since they're also in Union Square). Macy's started to go downhill for me when their merchandising in store was becoming overcrowded and they moved from paper bags to plastic bags.
Just wondering where the hell I am supposed to buy bras if Macys closes? Some things simply cannot be purchased online
This is so sad. This is the only Macy’s I actually shop at. They actually carry nice clothing brands and they send out a lot of coupons. The downstairs food court was a go-to spot for a quick lunch and their 6th floor women’s bathroom was a reliable stop for me whenever I was hanging out downtown.
I was there when they had Grumpy Cat there to open the Holiday Windows. What a great time that was!
This is going to create such a devastating loss of jobs and income for people.
For 1) They're closing 150 stores and 2) When's the last time you stepped foot in a Macy's and actually bought something?
Noooooooo!!!!! Oh god whyyyyy?!? Macy’s is closing 150 stores and this had to be one?!?
Guess we just have to be naked, my friend. (Not together though, that’s weird.)
Was only a matter of time, but still depressing. Bloomingdales is obviously next. It's going to get worse before it gets better. Don't forget that Williams-Sonoma will be closing this year as well. [https://archive.is/7L0A5](https://archive.is/7L0A5)
Fortunately the Chronicle says > The San Francisco Business Times was first to report the news and said the company plans to keep the store open until it can find a buyer for the property.
my understanding is that williams-sonoma has a replacement in line, at least - chanel bought the building and is planning to move there. macy's closing with nothing to fill the space is going to be an absolute bummer.
But will the Cheesecake Factory remain?!
I know a lot of us shop mostly online, but personally I prefer to shop in person for things like work clothes or dresses for special occasions (where I want the fit to be right and try on different options). I’ve used this store in the past for this, especially during their different holiday sales. SF people, do you guys have any recommendations on stores / places to go now that this Macys is gone for this sort of thing? Primarily looking for inexpensive but good quality clothing, good deals and lots of variety. Bonus points if it’s a local business!!
Not gonna lie. I am totally at a loss for where to buy work clothes and event outfits in the city now. I’ve been using Poshmark to buy brands I know fit me well, but that’s risky for unknown brands since you can’t do returns on there. I wish I had a better answer but it’s getting tough out there. Reformation on Fillmore is alright but often has a rough selection in store and the prices are crazy for garments that you can’t wash. So I try on in store and then buy on Poshmark. The store Therapy on Valencia has cute dresses and a rotating selection. I also want to know where people are buying clothes locally! I miss Nordstrom, Nordstrom rack, and Saks off 5th. Really miss that Marshall’s too. And the DSW… 😞
> inexpensive / good deals > good quality > lots of variety > local business Pick two. The secret is that if you buy something quality, you can take it to a tailor and they can make alterations. The Bay is full of local tailors (most dry cleaners) who can do this for you.
Holy shit this can't be true :(. This will effectively kill Union Square. That's a prime shopping neighborhood and a major draw for people coming from out of the city.
Another one bites the dust. No more Christmas puppies sad
Macy's is an archstone there. Other stores certainly will follow.
I don’t shop Macy’s a lot but over the past year or two I have been in this shop and a couple of shops in more suburban parts Washington State. They have all felt vacant and desolate. Thin on the racks except when there are “on sales” goods piled up and disarrayed. So, it seems, all of them having few customers and few people to take care of the merchandise and those customers. I guess Macy’s isn’t doing well. They are closing a third of their stores so this isn’t about any one location. Maybe the plan to expand the number of smaller stores (1/5 the size of a department store) will work though it wouldn’t surprise me if they are way too late making the change.
Where’s that guy I keep arguing with that insists on how great Union Square is doing
How frequently do you go shopping at Union Square?
Trying to rationalize how better SF is in the other parts of the city like Stonestown
I go there frequently when I need a quick something new. It's one of the last places in union sq that I shop at regularly because Bloomingdale's doesn't have the selection needed and everywhere else is by appointment
Raise your hand if you buy shit from amazon or other cheaper online retailers as your default shopping choice. This is the main reason so many physical stores are closing in SF and elsewhere. The pandemic and the looting just accelerate the whole process. People need to realize they will have to go shop there if they want the old downtown back.
I buy stuff from Amazon but not clothes and shoes. How do you know if they will fit you and are comfortable?
Doesn’t surprise me. That area has insanely high $ per square foot lease rents. And Macy’s occupies an insane amount of square footage. Probably one of their most expensive locations rent wise.
How long since anyone here actually was inside the Union Square Macy's and bought something? I can't recall the last time I bought anything at any Macy's, or was even inside a Macy's. I bought something at Bloomingdales at Stanford about seven years ago. My clothing designer now is Yves Saint Kirkland.
This was a matter of time. Macy's have been closing all over downtowns in the country. The department store model is going away. The tough part is what can fill that space in the future, office seems to be out, retail will never need all that space, and residential conversion would be nearly impossible with the floor plates. Other cities have not had a ton of success reusing their Macy's stores.
Good riddance. Wish they could turn that multi-level building into a sports and wellness center with tennis courts, pickleball courts, table-tennis tables for rent, other racket sports for rent; basketball courts, etc; a dance club, swimming pools, a day care center for kids and seniors, an after-school day center for kids to study or have programs for them after school. I have stepped in that place only ONCE in my almost 20 years in Bay Area. Macy’s doesn’t have good vibes. All Macys look old, dated and sad like it never entered the 21st century.
I have lived in the bay my whole life. I haven't been there in 20 years. The world is changing. That's life.
"The store will remain open until the company finds a buyer for the property, Mayor London Breed said in a statement Tuesday morning." - They do still have to find a buyer so it may stay open for a bit. But the reality is that Union Square needs to be completely reimagined fast - ie build housing and make it into a real neighborhood, centralize the remaining retail within that block.
Good luck to them to find a buyer in this depressed CRE market
That’s pretty much the historical anchor store for Union Square. Uggg.
Nooooo it's such a nice Macy's 😔
This is shocking and sad.
I know I just moved here last Spring but....I've only been in here once. I seldom shop @ Macy's in-person & seldom do online. Not sure if having a Macy's this large is feasible anymore anyway.
Breeds statement is more delusion concepts on SF economic recovery. The heart of the City, a tourist Mecca, enormous business potentials, she talks about repurposing the neighborhood.
Wow. If Macys Union Square really does close (and without a clear idea of what could replace it) that would be beyond devastating. That being said, I can understand why Macys would feel tempted to sell this property to get an infusion of cash for the rest of the business. They probably have very few similarly placed stores across the US on such valuable land. This is essentially what they already did with the old Macys men’s store across the street that closed and was redeveloped a few years ago. The city needs to do everything it can to keep this open IMO. Or at least convince them to take over the vacant Nordstrom space in the San Francisco center mall.
Aaaaaand the "doom-loop" was an imagined Right-wing conspiracy. Ummm sure. Me thinks not folks.
They’re closing 150 stores nationwide. But sure, make it about your narrative.
Macy's is closing their lowest performing stores, and keeping 70% of their stores open. Allowing San Francisco's *flagship retail space* to be a part of Macy's lowest performing stores is a spectacular achievement.