Target reduces store hours in San Francisco amid 'alarming rise' in crime

Target Corp. has moved up the nightly closing time of its five stores in San Francisco due to the city’s escalating retail crime. 

The retailer said there has been such an alarming rise in crime at their San Francisco locations it has reduced nighttime hours, reported Newsweek. Target employees, store managers and newly-hired security guards in San Francisco said there is a highly organized criminal operation that is targeting the discount giant, according to the report. 

San Francisco ranks as one of the top five cities in the country when it comes to organized crime. (According to the National Retail Federation, Los Angeles tops the list, followed by Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco.) 

Target’s stores in San Francisco now close at 6 p.m., according to the chain’s web site. (Although hours can vary, most Target stores close at 10 p.m.)  The retailer’s location in the San Francisco suburb of Westlake remains open till 10 p.m.

Target  is not the only retailer challenged by rising crime in San Francisco. At a board of supervisors hearing in the city, representatives from Walgreens said that thefts at its San Francisco stores were four times the chain’s national average and that it spends 35 times more on security guards in San Francisco, according to ABC7 news.