San Francisco Democratic Party Moves Presidential Campaign Headquarters Into Former Nordstrom Rack Location

Last year, amid all of the companies and stores fleeing San Francisco, one of the biggest names turned out to be Nordstrom Rack. Located downtown, Nordstrom Rack announced in May that they would be closing, and by July 1st, they were gone. And, just like 37% of office and retail space in the city, it remained vacant. That is until the last few weeks when it was officially repurposed…. into a San Francisco Democratic Party campaign headquarters to organize volunteers and coalitions for Vice President Kamala Harris as President.

Repurposing office or store space for campaign headquarters or offices is nothing new. Small towns across the United States have main streets filled with local, state, and national campaign satellite offices. Strip malls and large malls have temporary offices for the election season where stores used to be. Longer term Congressional, Assembly, and state Senate offices can be found in cities, often in or near prominent places and taking over vacant spaces.

But rarely do political parties or campaigns take over, say, an entire department store. Even rarer is that they do it this late in the election. Sure, convention centers and hotel ballrooms are booked for watch parties on election night, but those rentals are just for a day or two. Also rare is a campaign moving into a crime ridden area. Nordstrom Rack left, in part, because of crime and “unsafe conditions.” In an e-mail last year, they stated they were leaving as “the dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully.”

The location is officially to launch on Tuesday with a rally and debate watch party of the Presidential debate. Volunteer activities will also be in force. As the press release of the opening said “Located centrally by the Powell BART Station, the campaign headquarters will occupy the former Nordstrom Rack at 901 Market Street at the corner of 5th Street, and will have 45,000+ square feet of space to allow for phone banking, text banking, letter writing, serve as a pick-up location for volunteers to canvass in the Central Valley and Nevada, and all other mobilizing activities that will support the Democratic Party and its causes across the country.”

Criticism over location

While the Party brushed aside concerns for the new headquarters, many San Franciscans, including many Democrats, said that the decision to move into the former Nordstrom Rack wasn’t a good idea, with many staying away because of crime concerns.

“Out of everywhere they could have picked, they picked the worst location possible,” said Suzanne Chung, a voter organizer who had been part of the 2016 and 2020 elections, to the Globe. “My party picked one of the locations that highlighted just how poorly they have been reacting to crime in the city. I love my party, and they could have put this headquarters in a place more filled with hope, not cannibalizing remnants of retail in the city.

“I know a bunch of people who are staying away for the sole purpose of ‘not wanting to be mugged.’ You know, a bunch of single women going alone to this location? Having to take the BART home at night? What were these people thinking? I’m all for Harris and would have loved to volunteer that night, but not there. Not downtown.”

Another Democratic Party volunteer, Helen, added that “I have been a campaigner outside polling places on election day or volunteering at phone banks, or helping out at rallies since I was a teenager going out for Humphrey. I would have loved to go to this watch party, but what they did choosing the Rack location. I can’t go there. It’s not safe, especially at night. Oh, and also, moving into a place seen as a failure? Don’t they know how that makes people equate the two? What bonehead thought that was a good idea? They needed to pick a safer place. They always have in the past. And now that we get one of our own running, they do this. Seriously, what is their problem?”

The first major event, a watch party for the debate, is to be held tomorrow at the former Nordstrom Rack location.