Electronics retailer B8ta has temporarily closed two stores in San Francisco, the latter closing after an armed robbery on Wednesday in Hayes Valley amid an increase in violent crime.
Security camera footage shows a man with a scooter entering the store and pointing a silver gun at the store manager, who walks away. The man, who wears a baseball cap and mask, grabs two laptops and leaves the store on his scooter.
B8ta CEO Vibhu Norby said the crime has gotten much worse this year in San Francisco. Last month, an unmasked “clearly drugged” man took an $ 800 product and ran, he said. Separately, another man entered the store’s back room and damaged products and broke a sign, according to a police report. In Union Square, two women stole several bags last month, according to a police report. That store is also closed and all incidents are under investigation, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Robberies, classified as forced entry or intimidation, skyrocketed in San Francisco last year, with stores and closed houses becoming popular targets during the pandemic. Across the city, thefts jumped 50.9% in 2020 to 7,487 cases compared to 4,962 cases in 2019, according to police. In the northern district of the department, which includes Hayes Valley, thefts increased 44%.
It is another obstacle for retailers who were forced to close for months during the pandemic and now have occupation restrictions. Many buyers have switched to online ordering, reducing pedestrian traffic.
B8ta’s next-generation products include laptops and speakers that are worth thousands of dollars, and theft has been a problem since the Hayes Valley store opened in 2017. But the recent incidents, culminating with an armed man in the store this week, made it impossible to keep the store open, Norby said. An unarmed security guard was unable to prevent the theft.
Violent crime is not an issue in the company’s stores outside of San Francisco, which include other cities in the bay area like Palo Alto, Corte Madera and San Jose. “It doesn’t exist in other places where we have stores,” he said.
Someone even broke a company store window at the Chase Center last month, which is a block from the police headquarters, but was stopped by a second glass panel.
Norby said it is disappointing that some of San Francisco’s main shopping areas have become dangerous and that he wants to reopen stores when it is safe.
“Hayes is one of the best shopping streets in the city,” he said. Union Square’s location is close to the Hermès luxury store.
He is asking city officials to prioritize security in the areas.
“I don’t have a solution for you, but I have a challenge, which is to keep this block safe for a month,” said Norby.
The city’s Office of Economic Development and Workforce said it connected B8ta to Union Square Community Benefit District, which has a partnership with local merchants in public security and other services, and North Station Police Captain Paul Yep .
“We are sorry that Mr. Norby and his employees have been through this. Our hope is to continue to reduce COVID-19 cases, so that we can resume the reopening of our economy and start allowing people to return to the aisles to shop and eat, and to do so safely, ”said the agency.
“This is a deeply worrying undertaking and our office is in direct contact with the owner, as well as with SFPD and the Public Ministry, in response. We are determined to resolve this issue and ensure that our local companies and their workers are protected, ”said supervisor Dean Preston, who represents Hayes Valley, in a statement.
B8ta raised more than $ 93 million from investors, including Macy’s and Khosla Ventures, in an effort to reimagine physical retail for technology products, but the pandemic devastated their businesses. The company laid off more than half of its corporate employees and laid off about 250 retail employees last March. Many workers were rehired and the company was assisted by a $ 2.26 million loan from the Salary Protection Program, Norby said. The company now has about 130 workers.
“We have found ways to make ends meet. We are definitely not out of danger, ”he said, predicting that it will take another year before things recover.
Last March, the company closed its San Francisco office and moved its mailing address to its warehouse in Austin, Texas, but Norby plans to maintain B8ta’s headquarters in San Francisco, where he lives, and hopes to eventually reopen the closed stores.
“SF is such a great city, it would be a shame not to have a store here,” he said. “We are not leaving.”
Roland Li is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @rolandlisf