If you wanted to buy a lifetime supply of birthday cards, a single box of Plan B and a once-frozen spinach and goat cheese pizza that's been thawed on a shelf for hours—and at 90% off to boot—you would have been right at home at the SoMa San Francisco Target slated to close Saturday.
But then, there wasn't much else at the Target on Folsom Street when I stopped by during its penultimate day of business.
What greeted me instead was a sea of empty shelves, many of which were soon to be broken down and sent to other Target stores. Only one part of the store remained accessible. Two shelves were packed with random, unorganized stuff, such as allergy pills and sippy cups, all next to a rack of jeans. Another two were stocked with birthday cards.
There were as many as 20 customers in the store at one point, with maybe half of them walking out empty-handed, despite the 90% markdown.
The Folsom Street Target is one of three Bay Area Target stores closing Saturday, with the other two in Oakland and Pittsburg. Target said organized retail theft in these markets has contributed to an "unsustainable business performance."
There has also been a litany of business closures in nearby Downtown San Francisco leading up to the SoMa Target store’s demise, including an Old Navy in Union Square and seven Starbucks locations.
I had a mind to ask a customer what they thought about Target's closure when I got kicked out. Target’s security doesn't like journalists, it turns out.
"Hey boss, you've got to leave. You can't be asking questions here," said a worker in a yellow uniform labeled “asset protection” flanked by two security guards. "You reporting on something? Yeah, you can't be doing that here."
And without even the time to snag a deeply discounted, thawed frozen pizza on the way out.