San Francisco Target, Safeway Remove Self-Checkout Kiosks as Theft Rises

Customers wait in line to make purchases at a Target store in Daly City, Calif., on Dec. 14, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Viral videos of flash mob thefts in California have become a regular feature on social media but some stores in San Francisco are taking more steps to battle the shoplifting crime wave.

Some Safeway and Target stores in downtown San Francisco have disabled self-checkout kiosks in an ongoing effort to deter thieves, according to SFGate, a Bay Area news source.

An employee confirmed to the news outlet the Fillmore District Safeway at 1335 Webster St. closed down its self-checkout stands a few months ago. Target on San Francisco’s Mission Street had also closed its kiosks by rotating the screens backwards, according to the article.

According to CBS News, a Target employee at the Mission Street Target confirmed their removal was due to shoplifting.

The move follows Target’s decision to crack down on theft this year. The retail giant announced in September the closure of nine stores across four states, saying the corporation couldn’t continue operating the stores because “theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance.”

The San Francisco Target at 1690 Folsom St. was among the locations shuttered at the end of October. Oakland’s outlet at 2650 Broadway was also closed. The company still has 32 stores open and operating in the Bay Area, employing more than 6,400 people, according to its corporate office.

Three stores were closed in Portland, Oregon, two in Seattle, and one in New York City.

The company also has invested heavily in ways to prevent and stop theft and organized retail crime in the stores before deciding to close them, according to Target’s corporate office, including adding more security, locking up merchandise that is prone to theft, and training store staff on ways to protect themselves.

Several other retailers have closed stores in San Francisco this year, blaming the increase in retail crime.

Upscale clothing retailer Nordstrom closed its flagship store in the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall in downtown San Francisco in August after 35 years.

Other major retailers to close stores in the city this year include Old Navy, Whole Foods, AT&T, Anthropologie, AmazonGo, Office Depot, and Saks off Fifth Avenue.

In September, the national clothing chain American Eagle filed a lawsuit against the prior owners of the Westfield San Francisco Centre for failing to uphold terms outlined in their lease agreement.

The chain claimed the company’s failures led to an increase in “rampant criminal activity,” including more than 100 “significant security incidents” between May 2022 and May 2023, according to the lawsuit.

The latest numbers by the Council on Criminal Justice, a national organization that works to advance understanding of criminal justice policy choices, show a 1-percent decline in shoplifting in San Francisco between January 2019 and June 2023.

New York City and Los Angeles reported the largest increases in shoplifting among the cities studied, the council reported. The former reported a 64-percent increase while the latter had a 61-percent increase during that period.

However, the report’s researchers also warned that the numbers are derived from reported incidents only and thus “almost certainly undercount total shoplifting.”

During the first halves of 2022 and 2023, shoplifting skyrocketed in Los Angeles, increasing by 109 percent, according to the study.

Incidents of shoplifting dropped significantly by 39 percent in San Francisco during that same time, which was one of the largest decreases in the nation, the council reported.