Thrifty Drops S.F. Store Plan

The Thrifty Jr. drugstore chain, reacting to protests from residents and an arson fire last month, abandoned plans to open a new store in San Francisco’s contentious Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, the company announced. Thrifty said in a statement that “recent events raise serious concerns over the ultimate safety of the neighborhood.” An arson blaze swept through the construction site on Sept. 22, destroying it and nearby buildings, leaving 60 apartment dwellers homeless. Neighborhood activists had sued to block the 7,000-square-foot store, contending that it would have undermined efforts to preserve the district that was the center of the 1960s counter-culture here.