After 35 years of service to the South Beach community, the family-owned Bayside Market is shutting down, with escalating crime rates and operational costs cited as the primary reasons. David Pesusic, the co-owner of the market located at 120 Brannan St. near the Embarcadero, stated that the business's woes included not only the financial burden brought on by inflation but also a substantial uptick in neighborhood crime. In a scathing critique, Pesusic blamed city officials for failing to adequately address the issue, asserting to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Our family business is going down the tubes because the idiots in City Hall can't protect us".
Pesusic also highlighted an urgent concern for the safety and well-being of his employees. With several of the market's 12 employees facing layoffs due to the closure, the threat posed by the criminal activity seemed to be the last straw. Pesusic told The Standard, “The only reason that we’ve lasted as long as we’ve lasted — it’s gonna make me cry — is our dedicated employees, you know, them having our backs and watching out over what’s going on inside of the store”. These sentiments echo the precarious conditions shopkeepers in the neighborhood are enduring. Despite San Francisco seeing a reduction in major crimes in the first quarter of 2024, according to a Chronicle April report, Pesusic claims many incidents at his market go unreported.
The repeated crimes, combined with law enforcement's alleged inattentiveness, have led to a sense of futility and exasperation amongst the Bayside Market owners. "We don’t even call 911 anymore because they don’t respond,” Pesusic expressed in his statement, shedding light on the interminable challenges faced by the local business.
Local politics enter the picture with Matt Dorsey, Supervisor for District 6, calling the closure of the Bayside Market "heartbreaking" and acknowledging the difficulties small business owners like Pesusic have been facing. In his visit planning to the establishment, Dorsey, a former Police Department spokesman, has acknowledged these systemic issues, taking note of the nexus between drug usage, ineffective policies, and subsequent retail theft. Furthermore, he pointed to Proposition 36 as a potentially impactful measure that could alter the landscape by allowing felony charges for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug possession.
