Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Francisco

  • Charles Barkley hopes San Francisco mayor can ‘do something about the homeless population’

    Charles Barkley hopes San Francisco mayor can ‘do something about the homeless population’

    Join Fox News for access to this content

    Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

    By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Having trouble? Click here.

    Charles Barkley has hope for the city of San Francisco after saying during the NBA All-Star Game broadcast that he met with Mayor Daniel Lurie.

    The city was the host for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. Barkley had been on the city’s case because of its crime and homeless population. During the broadcast, he expressed some optimism that the city would start cleaning up.

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

    Chuck’s Global Stars general manager Charles Barkley looks on during introductions before the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 16, 2025. (Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images)

    “Shoutout to the people of San Francisco, especially the mayor. I met the mayor a couple times. He’s been tremendous, and hopefully we can do something about the homeless population,” Barkley said during a game between Team Shaquille O’Neal and Team Candace Parker.

    Barkley said last month he would skip going to the game because it was in San Francisco.

    “He’s going to make the All-Star Team,” Barkley said at the time. “I’m not going. I’m not going to that rat-infested place out in San Francisco.”

    Barkley responded to one of his colleagues calling San Francisco “beautiful.”

    “San Francisco is not a beautiful city. Rats. Cats. Y’all are not gonna make me like San Francisco. No. Nope, nope, nope”

    NBA on TNT crew

    From left to right, Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley stand at mid-court to be honored during the NBA All-Star basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

    SPURS TEAMMATES VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, CHRIS PAUL DISQUALIFIED FROM NBA ALL-STAR GAME SKILLS CHALLENGE

    However, it was far from the first time he had criticized San Francisco. Last year, he ripped the city during the NBA’s alternative broadcast of the All-Star Game, which took place in Indianapolis.

    Barkley asked Reggie Miller which he would choose: playing in the cold in Indianapolis – where Miller spent his entire 18-year NBA career – or “being around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco.”

    Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green called Barkley “crazy” and said that Barkley was not “welcome” in the city. Parker said, “we love San Francisco,” but Barkley offered a retort.

    “No we don’t,” he said. “… You can’t even walk around down there.”

    He later suggested you could walk around the city with a “bulletproof vest.”

    Daniel Lurie in San Francisco

    Then-Super Bowl 50 Host Committee Chairman Daniel Lurie speaks during the Super Bowl 50 host committee press conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Feb. 1, 2016. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Lurie has vowed to make San Francisco’s streets safe again, build “enough housing to turn around our affordability crisis” and tackle “our drug and behavioral health crisis.”

    Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

  • San Francisco Centre Bloomingdale’s location closing

    San Francisco Centre Bloomingdale’s location closing

    Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.

    Bloomingdale’s plans to shutter its massive store within the San Francisco Centre shopping mall in the coming months.

    The brand, owned by Macy’s, said in a statement to FOX Business that the location within the mall “will remain open until late spring 2025” and then close its doors. 

    Bloomingdale’s location within the San Francisco Centre, a shopping mall near the city’s downtown Union Square area, spans nearly 339,000 square feet, according to a leasing brochure. 

    A shopper carries Bloomingdale’s bags in San Francisco on July 25, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    Bloomingdale’s also said that San Francisco “has been home to the brand for nearly two incredible decades” and that it was “hopeful to be back to serve the San Francisco community in the future and look[s] forward to introducing new ways to provide enhanced service to our loyal local shoppers.”

    MICHAEL KORS CLOSES ITS DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO STORE

    The upcoming Bloomingdale’s exit, earlier reported by local media outlets, follows Michael Kors, a luxury brand known for its clothing and handbags, closing its store in the San Francisco Centre.

    San Francisco Centre has lost tenants such as Adidas, American Eagle, J. Crew, Madewell, Aldo, Nordstrom and L’Occitane in recent years. 

    san francisco centre

    The Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping mall in San Francisco is seen on June 13, 2023. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    The mall remains home to Aritzia, Bath & Body Works, Coach, Kate Spade, Rolex, Ray Ban and Tumi, among others, according to its online store directory.

    In June, the shopping mall said it had locked in leases for seven new companies. That included five for retail and two for offices, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

    GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

    FOX Business reached out to Trident Pacific Real Estate Group, the firm that became the San Francisco Centre’s receiver in 2023, and JLL, the company listed on the mall’s website as managing the property, for comment on Bloomingdale’s leaving the location.

    Mayor Daniel Lurie called Bloomingdale’s pull-out “disappointing” in an X post on Tuesday. 

    San Francisco

    San Francisco took the top spot for the best city to visit during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2023, according to WalletHub. (iStock / iStock)

    The broad Union Square area has faced its share of retail exits over the past couple of years. The reasons have varied, with some pointing to business conditions, lower foot traffic and shifts in the retail sector. 

    In the X post, Lurie added that he was “energized every day by businesses of all sizes opening and growing in our city” and that the city “continue[s] to work towards the revitalization of the city.” 

    “We are open for business here in San Francisco,” he said in an accompanying video. “We’re going to make sure downtown is safe and clean. We are going to start a new police task force focused on those people coming in for conventions, shoppers, visitors, making sure that they feel safe, just like we were able to do last week for JPMorgan’s healthcare conference and we will for the Lunar New Year parade celebrations and the NBA All Star Game.

    A DOZEN WALGREENS STORES IN SAN FRANCISCO TO CLOSE

    “There is a lot to look forward to in our city. We are going to get this right. You have my commitment that our department heads, my team are going to work tirelessly to make sure that we bring retailers, businesses, conventions back to San Francisco.”