Just a week after making the decision to close his Union Square store, b8ta CEO Vibhu Norby announced via Twitter on Wednesday that the Hayes Valley store is also closed “indefinitely” due to a store manager having a gun pointed at him during an assault.
“Our story is not exceptional,” said Norby. “I think the city will say it’s a b8ta-specific problem because we have a visible showcase and high-value merchandise, but everyone is witnessing it.”
He said that since his story was covered in the media, other Hayes Valley traders have reached out to share stories of his invasions. Norby said he will not reopen the store until he sees a month free from break-ins on the block.
Union Square’s b8ta store closed last week because there were three robberies on the street it is on this year. “No matter how expensive it is,” Norby told SFGATE in January. “We cannot send our employees to a store where there is up to a 2% chance of being mugged.”
Norby started expressing his frustrations on Twitter in January to get the city’s attention. A single topic details each incident, from a video of a man breaking the glass in the Hayes Valley store to stealing items from a man entering the store in broad daylight to leave with a $ 2,200 Devialet speaker. Now, that topic includes the announcement that a Hayes Valley store manager had a gun aimed at him and so he decided to close the store.
“It was with regret that we made the decision to close our Hayes Valley SF store as well, indefinitely and immediately,” says the tweet. “Our store manager was pointed at a gun this afternoon and we were robbed. The team is shaken, but is doing well. (And yes, we had private security.) ”
Although Norby was reluctant to hire private security for the store, as it would cost 30% more than the store’s monthly rent, he chose to do it anyway after the increase in incidents in January. “I thought [hiring private security] would work, “he said.” In retrospect, it obviously doesn’t work, because you’re not going to ask someone to make the situation worse. “
B8ta has stores around the world, and Norby told SFGATE last month that crime in San Francisco is unlike anything the company experiences elsewhere. “In fact, it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the country,” he said. “We have another 17 stores, including three international ones. It just doesn’t happen anywhere else. It’s just here. “