S.F. mall gets name change, new strategy
The new management of San Francisco’s biggest, half-empty mall is going back to the past while seeking to revive it for the future.
What was known until last year as Westfield San Francisco Centre is being rebranded as Emporium Centre San Francisco, a nod to a historic 1896 name for a portion of the mall known as the Emporium. It was the first department store on the West Coast.
Mall receiver Trident Pacific and retail broker JLL said a new logo, signs and website are coming soon.
Leasing strategy at the mall will focus on trying to draw experiential, entertainment and culinary sector tenants. Events, performances and arts activities are planned. The new managers also want to enhance security, support existing tenants and work with the city and local groups on improving the area.
Other ideas include drawing fitness, medical, recreation and education tenants.
The efforts come as retail closures in the Union Square shopping area pile up, including the planned departure of Macy’s from the city. Macy’s Inc. also owns Bloomingdale’s, the Emporium Centre’s biggest remaining tenant. A major entertainment business, Cinemark, also closed its movie theater in the mall last year, reflecting the uphill battle new management will have in drawing leisure uses.
“Our job is to write the Centre’s next chapter by simultaneously stabilizing and improving the property.
As we do this, we want people to know that we’re open and we have a great collection of retailers and restaurants for guests to enjoy,” said Gregg Williams, principal receiver of Trident Pacific, in a statement.
“During the Centre’s 128year history, it has evolved with the times to sustain and reinvent itself as a community gathering place. We’re committed to working with our existing retailers and restaurants, the City, and the community to ensure that this historic location has a new foundation to succeed,” Williams said.
Lane Wade of JLL was appointed as the mall’s general manager.
“San Francisco has always emerged stronger from fluctuating economic cycles and we believe this unique and accessible location will too,” Wade said in a statement.
A top city official said the evolution of the mall could be a positive thing for downtown.
“Even as we envision grand ideas for the longterm future of the Centre, it presents a very real nearterm opportunity to add life, energy and interest to the Union Square and Yerba Buena districts, by tapping into the local communities that surround it,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, executive director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, in a statement.
The original Emporium was connected to the San Francisco Shopping Centre project, which opened in 1988 with Nordstrom. Later owners Westfield and developer Forest City constructed a 1 million-squarefoot expansion in 2003 that included Bloomingdales and a preservation of the mall’s historic dome.
Westfield and Brookfield, which bought Forest City in 2018, abandoned ownership of the mall last year in the face of plunging foot traffic during the pandemic and the impending closure of Nordstrom, which happened in August.