Pittsburg was working to bring police substation by Target ahead of closure due to theft, mayor says

PITTSBURG, Calif. (KGO) -- On Tuesday, Target announced they would be closing three of their Bay Area locations next month. A location in San Francisco, one in Oakland and one in Pittsburg.

The company citing retail theft as one of the main reasons why.

RELATED: Target closing 3 Bay Area stores due to retail theft, company announces

"It is disappointing to hear the news today," said Pittsburg Mayor Shanelle Scales-Preston.

Scales-Preston says the closure comes as a shock.

She tells me the city has been in contact with Target over the company's concerns and has been taking steps to try and address them.

"We are opening up a police substation right there in the shopping center, as well as our Contra Costa Sheriff's Department is opening up a training academy right across the street from Target," Scales-Preston said.

Scales-Preston says that police substation was meant to open in just weeks.

MORE: All San Francisco Target locations reducing operating hours due to recent spike in crime

She said she wishes Target would have waited to see if the situation improved before deciding to leave.

"We have seen a downwards trend of the theft that's going on in that shopping center," said Scales-Preston.

Target is just the latest company to close stores in the Bay Area recently.

A worrying trend says Matt Ross, a spokesperson for Californians Against Retail and Residential Theft.

"What we're doing now is not working for the stores. It's not working for the employees. It's not working for the customers," he said.

MORE: New anti-theft gates installed at several SF Safeway locations

The coalition works with thousands of businesses around the state.

He believes the problem of retail theft won't be fixed until there's greater accountability for those committing crimes.

"It'll go from something that sounds innocuous like a petty theft and may end up leading into violence. And that's what these stores are really concerned about," Ross said.

Back in Pittsburg, the mayor says she worries about what Target's closure will mean for her community.

Especially those who rely on the store for daily items like food and medicine.

"Would love to see my community have all the amenities that any other community has because they deserve it," she said.

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