There will be another retail vacancy in Union Square in late March, as the Crate & Barrel at Stockton and O’Farrell Streets will furnish its last home furnishings and close in the next few weeks.  

It’s a difficult time to do business in San Francisco’s Union Square, particularly for large chain retailers paying astronomical rent amidst still very poor foot traffic. And while there are signs of hope that an IKEA and a Chanel (and a Jollibee!) are soon to fill vacant Union Square storefronts, it’s still seemed like “One step forward, two steps back” as the promised new stores come amidst the backdrop of high-profile closures like Abercombie & Fitch, DSW, H&M, and The Gap.    

Now there will be another gap, as SFGate reports the Crate & Barrel in Union Square is closing. “The Crate & Barrel at 55 Stockton Street in Union Square will shutter on March 23, an employee told SFGATE on Sunday afternoon, and the store has already begun to roll out sample sales in order to liquidate its stock,” the site reports.

SFGate did manage to get a statement on the closure from the home decor company, but the statement explains basically nothing. "We remain committed to offering our customers the best shopping experience in-store and online," a Crate & Barrel spokesperson told SFGate. "While we are closing this location customers can shop at the nearest Crate & Barrel locations including Town Center Corte Madera, Walnut Creek, Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto or online at crateandbarrel.com."

Read between those lines, people, as San Francisco is not mentioned in that previous sentence. That said, the company’s spinoff store CB2 still has a location around the corner at 34 Ellis Street.

So the company is basically giving no explicit reason for the closure, though many are likely to go all Tucker Carlson and say this is clearly because of shoplifting and poop on streets. From a broader national perspective, Crate & Barrel’s overall financial health seems like a mixed bag at the moment. They’re closing stores in some cities, yet opening more outlets in others.

Some retail associates may lose work here, but it appears no one up top at Crate & Barrel is hurting. The company is owned by German conglomerate the Otto Group, whose heiress just bought herself a $14 million mansion in Beverly Hills.

Related: H&M Has Permanently Closed On Powell Street After 15 Years [SFist]

Image: Union Square Crate & Barrel via Yelp