PetSmart's Only San Francisco Store Set to Close July 19, Cites Shift to Online Shopping

PetSmart is closing its only San Francisco store. The location at 2675 Geary Blvd. is scheduled to shut down on Sunday, July 19, according to KTVU.

The company isn't blaming crime, rent, or City Hall. It's blaming the internet.

"As more customers choose online ordering, autoship and same-day delivery, we're continuing to adapt how we serve pet parents across the Bay Area," PetSmart said in a statement reported by KTVU.

What The Store Actually Did

This wasn't just a shelf-stocked retail box. The Geary Boulevard location offered doggie day care, boarding, grooming, training and camps, according to the store's own website. Pet owners who used the store for boarding or grooming now have to look elsewhere in the city or drive.

The Fallback: Daly City

PetSmart says San Franciscans aren't being cut off entirely. The company will keep serving the area through its Daly City store and online delivery, according to a statement carried by SF Gate.

"We are also expanding fulfillment capabilities at our Daly City location to help meet the needs of the community," the company added.

San Francisco pet owners now drive to another city or order online.

Employees Get Options, Not Pink Slips

Workers at the Geary store aren't simply out of a job. PetSmart says staff will be offered the chance to relocate to other Bay Area locations, along with transitional resources, according to KTVU. Whether every employee at a San Francisco store wants to commute to Daly City or another Bay Area location is a separate question the company hasn't addressed publicly.

The Timing Question Nobody's Answering

This closure comes after San Francisco city officials held a hearing on a proposed ban on stores selling live pets in the city, according to the New York Post. California already bans retail sale of cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, gerbils, hedgehogs and sugar gliders statewide. A stricter local ordinance would extend that further.

PetSmart has not said the proposed ban had anything to do with its decision to close. The company's public statement points entirely at online shopping trends, not local regulation. The timing raises questions, but nothing in the company's statements or the reporting ties the closure to the pending ordinance.

The Bigger Picture

PetSmart launched in Phoenix in 1987 and grew into a company with more than 50,000 employees and over 700 in-store veterinary offices, according to the New York Post. Losing one store in one city is a rounding error for a chain that size. But it's not a rounding error for San Francisco pet owners who used that Geary Boulevard location for boarding, grooming or training.

Does PetSmart's Daly City expansion actually absorb the volume, or does San Francisco end up with a service gap the company's statement glossed over? That answer will show up in how long the Daly City line gets, not in any press release.