https://www.sfgate.com/bay-area-politics/article/San-Francisco-Walgreens-closure-retail-theft-16533142.php Skip to main content Currently Reading What's really going on with San Francisco Walgreens closures? * Newsletters * Sign In [ ] * Home + About SFGATE + Contact SFGATE + Newsletters + Ethics Policy + Advertise With Us + Privacy Notice / Notice At Collection + Terms of Use + Ad Choices + Classifieds + Do Not Sell My Personal Info * News + Bay Area + California + Nation + World + Crime + California Wildfires + Business + Weather + Education + Sponsored Content + Health + Jobs * Local + SF History + Businesses + Places + Essays + Sponsored Content * Politics * Sports + 49ers + Giants + A's + Warriors + Soccer + Sharks + TV Listings + College + Preps * culture + Movies + Music + Streaming + Characters + Tech & Social Media + Things To Do + Sponsored: SF Culture + Cannabis + Senior Living * Food + Drink + Restaurants + Reservations + Beer News * Travel + City Guides + Weekend Getaways + Wine Country + Napa + Tahoe + California Parks + Disneyland + Hawaii + SF Insider: Things to do + Monterey-Carmel * Real Estate + New Homes + (Virtual) Open Homes + Luxury + Rentals + Mortgage Rates + Place a Real Estate Ad + Neighborhood Guides + Home & Garden * Obits + Obituaries + Place an Obituary * Coupons * Buy Area MOST POPULAR * San Francisco Giants' Darin Ruf hits a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn) Giants fan behind home plate deeply annoys Game 5 viewers * Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his RBI single to score Justin Turner against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning in game 5 of the National League Division Series at Oracle Park on October 14, 2021. Bellinger, awful check-swing call end Giants season with 2-1 loss * Shannon O'Connor who was accused of throwing drunken parties for teenagers in Los Gatos moved to the Boise, Idaho, area. Idaho sheriff releases new info on alleged Los Gatos party mom * Fisherman Butch Smith holds up a 41/2- -foot, nearly 40-pound alligator gar. It's the first time this fish has been reported in Kansas. (Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks) When a fisherman pulled in his line, he knew he had 'something weird': A... * Parking for Game 5 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Giants was not cheap near Oracle Park in San Francisco. Parking prices ahead of Game 5 look like a total nightmare * Putnam and Oak Park boulevards in Pleasant Hill. Skateboarder chased down, stabbed in Bay Area * Beth Hoffman and John Hogeland on their farm in Iowa. They had good jobs and a home in the Mission. Why leave SF? * A Waymo vehicle drives through Mountain View. Why so many Waymo cars are getting stuck in this SF neighborhood * A Buffalo Wild Wings location. Bay Area restaurant falls victim to strange viral prank * Actor Rob Lowe cheers in game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on October 14, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Rob Lowe, Steph Curry headline group of celeb fans at Giants game * The California Department of Public Health said Friday kids must wear masks in schools. SF quietly changes child COVID mask guidance * A stranded buoy in mud and a marooned boat in shallow water in South Tahoe, amid low water levels at Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is so low, boats marooned and algae rots on beaches News // Bay Area Politics What's really going on with San Francisco Walgreens closures? Eric Ting, SFGATE Oct. 15, 2021Updated: Oct. 15, 2021 10:05 a.m. Facebook Twitter Email Customers exit Walgreens on Irving Street in the Outer Sunset on Monday afternoon, Aug. 2, 2021. Customers exit Walgreens on Irving Street in the Outer Sunset on Monday afternoon, Aug. 2, 2021. Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE The news that Walgreens is closing an additional five San Francisco locations -- for the stated reason of ongoing organized retail theft in the city -- spawned national headlines further painting the city as lawless. In response to the unflattering narrative, San Francisco's elected leaders and progressive activists questioned the legitimacy of Walgreens' explanation for the store closures. "They are saying that's the primary reason, but I also think when a place is not generating revenue, and when they're saturated -- S.F. has a lot of Walgreens locations all over the city -- so I do think that there are other factors that come into play," Mayor London Breed told reporters Wednesday. Supervisor Dean Preston then wrote a Twitter thread lamenting that "media reports have accepted without analysis Walgreens' assertion that it's closing due to retail theft," and shared an SEC filing from 2019 in which Walgreens announced plans to close 200 stores. "So is Walgreens closing stores because of theft or because of a pre-existing business plan to cut costs and increase profits by consolidating stores and shifting customers to online purchases?" Preston asked. The city's leaders and critics alike appear highly motivated to preserve their respective narratives, and the online discourse on the Walgreens closures is as polarized as one would expect regarding San Francisco crime. To make sense of whether Walgreens is telling the truth, let's start with the August 2019 SEC filing Preston and other city progressives are widely sharing. It states that the company "plans to close approximately 200 locations in the United States," as part of a "cost management program" that was announced in December 2018. For reference, the closures made up about 3% of Walgreens' nearly 10,000 locations in the United States, CNBC reported, and Walgreens has closed 10 San Francisco locations since the start of 2019. A spokesperson for Walgreens told SFGATE in an email that the cost-cutting program to close San Francisco locations had "been previously completed" ahead of the Wednesday announcement that five more stores will close. When SFGATE asked Walgreens to directly respond to charges from Preston and others that the chain is weighing other considerations beyond retail theft, the spokesperson stopped returning emails. Top Picks In Shopping * Shopping Thrive Market review: Grocery delivery perfect for... * Travel How I got my airline to pay $1,300 for a flight delay * Shopping Forget about chocolate and pre-order a wine Advent calendar * Shopping Halloween costumes under $30 that don't suck According to San Francisco's crime dashboard, larceny theft is up nearly 8% year-over-year, though crime statistics in 2020 are skewed downward because the early days of the pandemic brought life to a near-halt and forced temporary store closures. When comparing 2021 larceny theft figures to pre-pandemic 2019 figures, one will find that reports of theft are actually down. From Jan. 1, 2021, to Oct. 10, 2021, there have been 21,842 reports of larceny theft, and there were 31,958 reports over the same period in 2019, which is a 31.6% decrease. There were 33,312 reports of larceny theft during the same time period in 2018 and 35,483 reports in that period in 2017, so the number of theft reports has actually been in decline over the past few years. However, analyzing San Francisco's crime statistics without an outside reference doesn't tell the entire story, as the city has higher-than-normal rates of property crime. FBI data from 2017 showed that of the 20 biggest cities in the United States, San Francisco had the highest rate of property crimes per capita, and in 2019, S.F. had the highest rate of property crimes in the state of California. That said, the notion that larceny theft has gotten considerably worse over the past few years is not supported by the data -- even if there has been an increase in viral videos showing brazen thefts. Walgreens could argue that the level of retail theft in San Francisco remains so high that year-over-year decreases are not moving the needle and operating in San Francisco remains unprofitable, but the company has not -- and likely will not -- open its books up for review. It is also worth pointing out that larceny theft encompasses a broader swath of crimes than just retail theft, including thefts of bicycles, motor vehicle parts and accessories. San Francisco does not report statistics on retail theft in isolation, let alone drug store thefts in isolation. Regardless, the situation related both to Walgreens and San Francisco crime is a bit more complex than prevailing narratives may suggest. Top Picks In Shopping * Shopping Thrive Market review: Grocery delivery perfect for... * Travel How I got my airline to pay $1,300 for a flight delay * Shopping Forget about chocolate and pre-order a wine Advent calendar * Shopping Halloween costumes under $30 that don't suck Written By Eric Ting Reach Eric on Eric Ting is the editor of California Issues, SFGATE's politics section. He is an East Bay native who has a Master's degree in journalism from Stanford University. Eric did his undergrad at Pomona College, where he majored in politics and minored in economics. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com newspaper's home * * * Return to Top * About + Our Company + Privacy Notice / Notice at Collection + Your California Privacy Rights + Interest Based Ads + Terms of Use + Advertising + Careers * Contact + Customer Service + Newsroom Contacts * CCPA + Do not sell my personal info * QuickLinks + Real Estate + Cars + Jobs + SF Marketplace + Recruitment + Home Services + Obituaries + Horoscopes + Comics * + Dear Abby + Weather + Home + Movies + TV + Earthquakes + Wildfires + Paid Content + Public Notices HEARST newspapers logo (c)2021 Hearst