A growing number of retailers in city office districts are relocating their businesses to the suburbs, partly due to crime

See The Decline of the Five-Day Commute Is a Boon to Suburban Retail by Kate King of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"A growing number of retailers in city office districts are relocating their businesses to the suburbs, where visits to shopping centers are on the rise as fewer people commute to downtown workplaces. 

With average office usage rates still only around half of where they stood before the pandemic in many major cities, many bars, restaurants and other retailers that cater to the five-day-a-week office crowd have been reeling. 

Pedestrian foot traffic in U.S. urban downtowns was down about 25% in April compared with the same month in 2019, according to real-estate software provider MRI Springboard. Nordstrom’s announcement last week that it was closing two stores in San Francisco was the latest sign of retailers’ discontent with declining sales and rising property crime in big cities."

"Some smaller business owners whose livelihoods are linked to urban downtowns are left hoping that workers will return. Beehive Shoeworks, under the L tracks in downtown Chicago, recently filed for a hardship accommodation on a $500,000 Small Business Administration loan it took out during the pandemic. 

Remote work and public-safety concerns are keeping customers away, said Hanna Shunnarah, one of the owners. The business has eight workers doing shoe shines and repairs, down from 16 before the pandemic."