BLUE CITY BLUES: Target to Close Stores in San Francisco, Other Cities, Citing Theft.

The retailer said Tuesday that stores in the New York City, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., markets would close effective Oct. 21. The stores account for a small portion of the more than 1,900 locations the company operated nationwide as of late January, but the decision is the latest sign of actions executives say they are taking to protect their businesses.

Target is also dealing with a broad slowdown in sales compared with its performance through the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said last month that shoppers in the most recent period spent less on apparel, home goods and other discretionary items in the midst of higher prices for food and other essentials.

It couldn’t be happening to a more woke major retailer. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.