Safeway set to close store serving San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf area
SAN FRANCISCO -- With the Safeway on the border of North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf closing its doors, local residents' trips to the grocery store will soon look a lot different.
"Now, I've got to spend money to go elsewhere to shop," Shepard Sanders said. He's used to being able to walk to the grocery store.
"It's going to be tough," he said. "Now, I'll have to catch the bus to Market Street or catch the bus down to the Embarcadero just to shop."
Even though there are other grocery options around the neighborhood, Sanders says he likes to shop at Safeway because of their prices.
"Now I've gotta spend an extra dollar or two to go somewhere else to shop," he said.
The grocery store located at 350 Bay St. has been a part of the community for decades. Danny Sauter, with North Beach Neighbors, says Sanders' concerns are shared by many others in the area.
"It's about 20,000 residents within a half mile of the store. For those families, for those seniors, it's going to be more difficult to get affordable groceries all of a sudden," Sauter said. "For residents in the neighborhood, particularly for the hundreds of units of low-income housing across the street, it's a big problem."
Unlike some store closures in San Francisco, Safeway does not attribute this particular closure to crime.
A spokesperson provided KPIX with the following statement:
"Safeway recently announced that its Bay Street location will close around May 27. All associates will have the option to transfer to one of our surrounding stores. Safeway has been a proud member of the Fisherman's Wharf community for decades, and the decision to close this store isn't one we made lightly. We continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally it's necessary to close locations that aren't meeting financial expectations. We remain committed to serving San Francisco at our remaining 16 locations."
Sauter says the area surrounding the Safeway has struggled in recent years with vacancies and this closure won't help fix the situation.
"This is going to leave a big hole in the neighborhood," Sauter said. "It's going to make it more difficult for all of those other businesses that may have relied upon that foot traffic from people going to or from Safeway. So it really has compounding effects."
However, he says, the community is mobilizing in the hopes of bringing in a new grocery store.
"Because this is such a big deal, North Beach Neighbors is launching a petition to bring in another affordable grocery store," he said.
The grocery store is located in Supervisor Aaron Peskin's district.
"It has really been the go-to spot for people on fixed incomes as well as tourists in the Fisherman's Wharf area. My heart really goes out to them," Peskin said. "I've heard from plenty of my constituents who live on fixed incomes and that is the affordable grocery option in this part of town -- particularly for people who walk or use public transit. So yeah, it is of deep concern."
Peskin says he has been in conversations with potential affordable grocery outlets that are considering the space.
"I've made it very clear to the parties, the landlord and the potential occupant that I am very interested in helping secure that for the benefit of my constituents," Peskin said.
From the outside looking in, Sanders says, a grocery store closing may not seem like that big a deal. But, for those who live in the area and have built routines around having it there, it will have an impact on their daily lives.
"This is very important because it helps us and helps people like me to shop and make sure I get my groceries instead of going way out of my way to other places to shop. It does matter," Sanders said.
