Downtown First Thursdays offers new hope to struggling SF merchants NBC Bay Area [Video]

San Francisco’s Downtown First Thursdays kicks off with high hopes that it will revitalize an area that has struggled since the start of the pandemic.

The goal of the block party is to get thousands of people downtown, specifically on Second Street between Market and Howard streets, an area that has experienced a wave of retail closures and businesses leaving.

According to the San Francisco Standard, since 2019, about 47% of businesses surrounding Union Square went out of business.

The event was an exciting time for residents, who said the energy in Downtown San Francisco hasn’t been the same since the pandemic.

“It just livens people up. It gets people out of their house. It makes San Francisco exciting!” said Graham Lloyd of San Francisco.

It’s why organizers like Manny Yekutiel are hoping that First Thursdays can bring thousands of potential customers directly to downtown businesses.

“For me, the most important thing about tonight is …