Century-old Hat Store Closes Union Square Store in Downtown San Francisco

Another retailer is fleeing Union Square in downtown San Francisco — this time, a century-old haberdashery known for its hats, which is leaving what was once one of the most desirable retail locations in America.

The departure of Goorin Bros. from its Union Square location is the latest sign that pandemic lockdowns, the shift to work-from-home in the tech industry; soaring crime in the city; and persistent homelessness are having a devastating effect on the city’s downtown.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday:

Goorin Bros. boutique at 111 Geary Street went dark on June 23 amid the city’s struggles to lure back tourists and office workers. San Francisco is also steadily losing cafes and restaurants, and nearly a third of its offices sit empty.

“It’s never an easy decision but it was time,” a company representative wrote in a statement. “There are a number of reasons I’m sure but really it was our smallest location and there’s just been a shift in business plan/direction over the last few years. We have a large store in North Beach still.”

…

Founded in 1895, Goorin Bros. appeared to be thriving prior to the pandemic, introducing a new line of hats in 2017 that included decadent military headpieces with dangling gold chains, and materials culled from an Amazonian fish.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has denied that there is a retail collapse in the city, arguing that tech companies in the Bay Area are investing in new artificial intelligence technologies that will spur growth.

But for now, the shock that began with the pandemic and continued with the “mass looting” of Union Square stores in November 2021 continues to reverberate throughout the city’s once-glittering retail sector.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.