Is 2019 the Year of the Retail Retreat on Stockton Street?

Photo: Barneys New York

Stockton Street could look remarkably different by this time next year.

In August, Barney’s bankruptcy filings indicated that the Barney’s New York store in San Francisco was one of the seven locations that would survive the company’s restructuring. But a lot can change in a matter of months. Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Barney’s is taking steps toward closing its San Francisco and Beverly Hills stores.

Under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and California’s similar “mini-WARN” law, employers must give the state and employees 60-days’ notice of a mass layoff, which, in California, is a layoff of more than 50 employees within a 30-day period. According to the notice, 121 workers would be affected at the San Francisco story, (77 O’Farrell St. in Union Square), and 263 workers would be impacted at the SoCal Barneys. Terminations could begin as early as November 1.

While the paperwork has been filed, the closure is not a done deal yet. Right now, the closure hinges on the outcome of a bankruptcy sale hearing scheduled for this week.

Barney’s is the second big tenant on Stockton Street staring down closure this year. In October, Forever 21 indicated in a bankruptcy filing that its store at 2 Stockton Street was also on the chopping block. The company is still trying to work out deals to minimize the number of locations it will close.

If both stores shutter, it will leave tens of thousands of square feet of vacant space in a prime stretch of the city’s busiest retail zone. Add that to the empty 6x6 mall on Market Street, and you have to wonder about the long-term viability of retail in an area that was once a shopping destination.