AT&T to close its flagship store in San Francisco

AT&T is closing its flagship store in downtown San Francisco located at 1 Powell Street. A staff member at the store, choosing to remain anonymous since he is not authorized to speak to the media, said that his supervisor told him that the location will close in August. The 24,000-square-foot store started selling phones, tablets, wireless plans, and other tech goodies starting in 2016; the previous tenant at the location was Bank of America.

Explaining the reason for closing the store, AT&T spokesperson Chris Collins said, "Consumer shopping habits continue to change, and we're changing with them. That means serving customers where they are through the right mix of retail stores, digital channels, and our phone-based care team." He said that there are two other AT&T stores within one mile of the 1 Powell Street store. Overall, the nation's third-largest wireless firm has 10 locations in the city including licensed retailers.

AT&T is in the process of closing another flagship store. On August 1st, the Union Square location in Chicago will close, and combined with the shuttering of the San Francisco store, it leaves Dallas as the only city left in the U.S. with an AT&T flagship retail location. Last month, T-Mobile, the nation's second-largest wireless provider, closed its Union Square location in Chicago. Back in March, T-Mobile also announced it would close its Signature Stores in San Francisco, Miami, and Santa Monica.

AT&T's Collins stated, "We are proud of our continued presence in the community, not only through our retail stores and our local investment in world-class connectivity with our 5G and fiber networks. All retail employees affected by this change will be offered jobs at one of our other many retail locations within the city."

The store will close in August and while no exact date has been announced, we'd expect the location to shut its doors for good on August 1st.