If you walked into the ground floor of 1355 Market Street back in 2018, it felt like the center of the universe. Or at least the center of the "new" San Francisco. The air smelled like expensive espresso and wood-fired pizza. You’d see Twitter employees (before it was X) scurrying around with badges dangling from their necks, grabbing $15 salads and artisanal sourdough.
It was peak Mid-Market.
Fast forward to today, and the vibe is... different. Honestly, it’s a bit of a ghost town compared to those glory days. The Market on Market San Francisco, that high-end grocery hall and culinary playground, officially pulled the plug on its grocery operations on February 28, 2025.
It’s a massive blow to the neighborhood.
What Actually Happened to The Market?
Look, people love to blame one single thing. Some say it was the "death spiral" of retail theft. Others point to the fact that Elon Musk moved X (Twitter) to Texas, effectively vaporizing the store’s primary customer base.
The truth is messier.
Chris Foley, the owner and developer behind the project, didn't mince words when the closure was announced. He noted that daily sales had plummeted from a staggering $60,000 in 2019 to just $2,300. You don't need a math degree to see that's not a sustainable business model. It's a tragedy, really, because the space was beautiful. It had that industrial-chic look that defined an era of San Francisco design.
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But beauty doesn't pay the rent when your aisles are empty.
The "Twitter Effect" and the Remote Work Shift
When The Market opened about a decade ago, it was the cornerstone of the Mid-Market tax break era. The idea was to revitalize a gritty stretch of the city by bringing in tech giants like Twitter, Uber, and Square. For a while, it worked. The Market was basically the de facto cafeteria for thousands of highly-paid engineers.
Then 2020 happened.
Office workers went home. They didn't really come back—at least not in the numbers needed to support a grocery store selling $12 jars of small-batch jam. When X finally shuttered its San Francisco headquarters in September 2024, the writing was on the wall. The "captive audience" was gone.
Is Anything Still Open at 1355 Market?
This is the part that confuses people. If you show up at the building today, the doors aren't necessarily boarded up. While the grocery department is dead and gone, the food hall component was kept on life support through a "restructuring" phase.
As of early 2026, a few resilient vendors have stuck around.
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- Jikasei Mensho: Still serving that rich, creamy ramen that people used to line up for.
- Lilikoi Boba: For those who still need a sugar hit in the afternoon.
- Pinoy Eats: Offering a bit of flavor in a space that feels increasingly hollow.
But let’s be real: without the grocery aisles, the "soul" of the place is missing. It feels more like a food court in a struggling mall than the vibrant community hub it set out to be.
The Safety Elephant in the Room
We have to talk about it because everyone else is. Foley famously blamed city leadership for allowing "the meth addicts and homeless to take over" the area. Residents told stories about being confronted by people in crisis right outside the front doors.
It’s a complicated San Francisco story.
You had this ultra-luxurious, "organic conversation" themed market sitting right on the edge of the Tenderloin. The juxtaposition was always jarring. As foot traffic from office workers declined, the street conditions became more visible and, for many shoppers, more intimidating. It wasn't just about the "vibe," though. High-end grocery stores are prime targets for shoplifting, and when you combine that with a 95% drop in sales, the math just stops working.
What the Locals Say
If you spend any time on the San Francisco subreddits, you'll see a mix of mourning and "I told you so." Some residents loved having a place to get high-quality produce within walking distance. Others felt it was always an elitist bubble that never truly served the diverse needs of the actual neighborhood.
One former regular mentioned that once the meat counter closed and the produce quality started "taking a nosedive" due to low turnover, they just started driving to the Whole Foods on 8th and Market instead.
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Wait—scratch that. Even that Whole Foods closed in 2023 for "safety concerns."
It’s a tough time for groceries in Mid-Market.
The Future of the Space
So, what’s next for the ground floor of the historic Market Square building?
There are rumors of more "creative" uses. San Francisco is currently obsessed with "office-to-residential" conversions and "pop-up" retail to fill the gaps. Foley has mentioned he has other projects in the works, but for now, 1355 Market stands as a monument to a specific moment in the city's history—the moment tech thought it could "fix" a neighborhood with a fancy grocery store.
If you’re heading down there, don't expect to pick up a gallon of milk or a rotisserie chicken.
Actionable Steps for Navigating Mid-Market Now
Since the landscape is shifting every single month, here is how you should actually handle food and shopping in the area right now:
- Check Social Media Before You Go: Don't trust Google Maps 100% for the smaller vendors inside The Market. Check the Instagram handle @visitthemarket for the most recent updates on who is actually still serving food.
- Support the "Heart of the City" Farmers Market: If you want fresh produce and want to support the local community, head to the Fulton and Larkin Street area (now across from its old UN Plaza home). It’s one of the few places in the neighborhood where you can still get high-quality, affordable food.
- Explore the IKEA (Heidemarket): Surprisingly, the IKEA on Market Street has become a weirdly reliable spot for a quick bite and some basic Swedish food items. It’s been a rare bright spot in the area’s retail scene.
- Look Toward Hayes Valley: If you were a regular at The Market for the "boutique" items, you’re better off walking a few blocks west to Hayes Valley. Places like Falcon Spirits or local independent shops there are picking up the slack for high-end goods.
The Market on Market San Francisco was a bold experiment. It proved that you can build a beautiful space, but you can't force a neighborhood to change just by placing a $15 salad in the middle of it. As the city continues to figure out its "post-AI, post-Twitter" identity, the ghost of The Market serves as a reminder that a real community needs more than just a place to buy fancy jam—it needs a reason to stay.