AT&T shutters iconic flagship store in downtown San Francisco

The Telecommunications giant has joined a long list of global brands closing stores in downtown San Francisco.

Telecommunications giant AT&T has joined a long list of global brands closing stores in downtown San Francisco. Downtown, California's fourth-largest city, is rapidly emptying due to an exodus of retailers and restaurateurs. The reason is a recent surge in thefts and security concerns.

"Consumer shopping habits continue to change, and we're changing with them," AT&T spokesman Chris Collins said on Thursday, confirming the closure. "That means serving customers where they are through the right mix of retail stores, digital channels and our phone-based care team."

AT&T said two stores, one in the Financial District at 425 Market St. and one in Chinatown at 851 Clay St., continue to operate within a mile of 1 Powell St. AT&T's network remains at more than 10 locations in the city.

Still, the company is effectively abandoning its flagship format. The Union Square store will close on August 1, at the same time as the flagship in Chicago's Michigan Avenue. That leaves the company with only one flagship store in Dallas.

"We are proud of our continued presence in the community, not only through our retail stores and our local investment in world-class connectivity with our 5G and fiber networks," said Collins. "All retail employees affected by this change will be offered jobs at one of our other many retail locations within the city."

Tensions in the troubled downtown San Francisco shopping district continue to mount. It was also revealed this week that the Cinemark chain has decided to close its movie theater in Westfield San Francisco Centre. Union Square has already lost at least 17 significant tenants recently.
The AT&T store opened in a former Bank of America branch in the fall of 2016. The 24,000-square-foot flagship had been profitable for several years. Since the pandemic began, this will be the 25th closure in the upscale shopping district.

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