San Francisco Safeway adding barriers to curtail shoplifters

A San Francisco grocery store has ramped up measures to prevent shoplifters even after officials promised to crack down on the brazen thieving that's hit the city. 

Customers shopping at the Safeway store on Market Street now will be greeted with automatic gates, according to multiple reports. 

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The gates are placed at the entrance of the supermarket, which is owned by Albertsons Companies. They were manufactured to close quickly behind each customer that enters the store in order to try to deter potential shoplifters, according to KPIX. 

The gates are part of "long-planned security improvements" for the store, a Safeway spokesperson told FOX Business. 

"Like other local businesses, we are working on ways to curtail escalating theft to ensure the wellbeing of our employees and to foster a welcoming environment for our customers," the spokesperson said. "Their safety remains our top priority."

Safeway did not say how many shoplifting incidents have occurred at the location.

WALGREENS CLOSING 5 MORE SAN FRANCISCO STORES DUE TO THEFT

According to KPIX, the store also added barriers to the self-checkout area, closed a side exit and added more security. 

In September, the mayor and police chief of San Francisco said they would dedicate more police, beef up coordination and make it easier to report thieves as organized shoplifting surged. 

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Some pharmacies, like Walgreens, have recently begun to shut their doors due to the thefts, which San Francisco Mayor London Breed said hurts people who rely on those establishments for work, medication and food. 

"Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average" despite large increases in security, Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.