A counter-narrative is at https://sfist.com/2023/04/25/former-civic-center-whole-foods-employees-say-store-didnt-close-just-because-of-crime/ https://sfist.com/

A counter-narrative is at https://sfist.com/2023/04/25/former-civic-center-whole-foods-employees-say-store-didnt-close-just-because-of-crime/ https://sfist.com/2023/04/25/former-civic-center-whole-foods... > Much like Walgreens before them, Amazon-owned Whole Foods may be scapegoating San Francisco's petty crime problem and feeding into a narrative in order to avoid talking about the economics of the store they just shut down. ... > The Chronicle has now spoken to a handful of former employees at the mid-Market store — on condition of anonymity because presumably some were given jobs at other stores — and they have painted a likely picture that Amazon/Whole Foods didn't really do their due diligence before opening this store. ... > Employees cite multiple missteps on the part of the company, including the placement of a liquor section near the exit doors, and "hiring poorly trained guards who tended to escalate confrontations into violence." > Yes, apparently someone OD'd in the Whole Foods restroom, but the pure fact that the store had unlocked or unattended restrooms in that neighborhood shows a high degree of naïveté, or just lack of local knowledge. ... > The point is, many people noted how very empty this store felt a lot of the time — not overrun with crazed addicts, but actually just empty. Would Whole Foods have made the decision to curtail hours last fall, closing the place at 7 p.m., if they were doing gangbusters business and regularly had long lines at checkout at 7 or 8 p.m.? That was also framed as a decision about "safety."