San Francisco considers forcing grocery stores to stay open amid crime
When in doubt, blame businesses for closing their doors instead of the crime. San Francisco might force businesses to stay open anyway. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors is considering reviving a 1984 law that would force grocery stores to stay open against their will. The law would require stores to give six-month notice before closing and would mandate them to meet with community members to shame them for being greedy corporations. This would also allow them to consider opening a replacement store. However, this could make them more hesitant to open new locations and potentially be held hostage by the city government if their business becomes unsustainable. This idea may not be a solution to crime, as it is not designed to address a real problem.
Published : a month ago by Zachary Faria in Business
When in doubt, blame businesses for closing their doors instead of the crime that has made it unsustainable for them to operate. San Francisco might even do you one better: force the businesses to stay open anyway.
One of the 11 members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is floating reviving a vetoed 1984 law that would force grocery stores to stay open against their will. Supervisor Dean Preston calls it a “good idea” because of the risk of “food insecurity” that comes with grocery stores closing.
The law in question would require stores to give a whopping six-month notice before closing, would force them to meet with community members (i.e. activists who will shame them for being greedy corporations), and would mandate that they “explore” opening a replacement store to make up for the one they are closing. In other words, San Francisco would be forcing grocery stores to stay open while running at a loss and putting their own employees in danger due to crime, all because San Francisco just can’t stomach locking up the criminals causing these problems in the first place.
On the bright side, this may just be a worse idea than Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson proposing government-run grocery stores, moving San Francisco closer to the title of worst-run city in the country. But this is not a solution to the problem. The problem is that crime has made running several businesses unsustainable, whether through the losses that come with rampant shoplifting, the safety of employees being put in jeopardy, or both.
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Forcing grocery stores to become charities for six months while a bunch of activists complain is not going to stop stores from closing. In fact, it would make them far more hesitant to open new locations (or the alternative ones the law mandates they consider), knowing that they could be held hostage by the city government for six months if their business becomes unsustainable.
If San Francisco pursues this, it would simply be a punishment levied against businesses that are only responding to the terrible circumstances they have been put in by criminals and by San Francisco’s lax attitude toward them. Forcing grocery stores to stay open temporarily doesn’t actually solve any problems, because it isn’t designed to solve a real problem.