- Cotopaxi, an outdoor apparel company, is shutting down its San Francisco store because of rampant drug use, crime and homelessness, according to Davis Smith, the company’s founder and CEO.
- The downtown San Francisco store was hit by a break-in shortly after it opened last year. Its windows were shattered and thousands of dollars of merchandise were stolen.
- “It’s sad, but San Francisco appears to have descended into a city of chaos,” Smith wrote on LinkedIn. “Many streets and parks are overrun with drugs, criminals, and homelessness, and local leadership and law enforcement enable it through inaction.”
- Smith added: “Our team is terrified. They feel unsafe. It’s impossible for a retail store to operate in these circumstances, especially when cities refuse to take any action (despite us paying taxes well above any other state we operate in). The city recently announced a reduction of police presence in this neighborhood, despite mass-scale crime.”
