Imagine it's October 1988. San Francisco-a city with flair and fog in equal measure-gets its flashiest new neighbor. Developed by Sheldon Gordon, a man whose resume includes the glitzy Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and Beverly Center, the original San Francisco Shopping Centre opened its doors with 500,000 square feet of retail heaven. On the upper floors was the grandest Nordstrom you could ever dream of-so big, you might need a hiking pole just to cross the shoe section. Add to that the United States’ very first spiral escalator-yes, you heard right, a swirling escalator, perfect for shopaholics who wanted a little extra drama with their purchases.
Connecting shoppers not just to stores but to the pulse of the city, the mall linked right into the iconic Powell Street station below. You could go from subway to shopping spree without ever seeing daylight, which, let’s be honest, might actually be a good thing with Bay Area weather. Linking up with Emporium-Capwell, a department store flagship that had already claimed a spot in city lore, the mall quickly shrugged off its slow start to become one of the top-performing shopping centers in America. Good deals do that, right?
But change is the only constant in San Francisco, and by 1996, the Emporium name dropped the Capwell part and, not long after, dropped out altogether when Federated Department Stores bought its parent company. For a while, Macy's camped out here with a temporary furniture store-a bit like those times you stay with a friend “just for a week,” and suddenly months go by. The mall itself changed hands faster than a baseball at a Giants game. Urban Shopping Centers, a big-deal investment trust, took over half in 1997. Soon, Rodamco North America, a European firm with its eye on the U.S., took a bite. Then, like pepperoni on a pizza, Westfield jumped on in 2002, gobbling up the whole thing.
In 2003, the creative minds at Forest City joined Westfield to cook up a plan that would make architects everywhere swoon. They preserved only the beautiful front façade and landmark dome-as if saving just the cherry on a sundae and replacing everything else. The new and improved mall, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and led by Kevin Kennon, gleamed with its 1.5 million+ square feet, a massive Bloomingdale’s, a sparkling nine-screen Century Theatres multiplex, and even a Bristol Farms gourmet supermarket for those in pursuit of the perfect organic apple. For a while, you could even take a college class here: San Francisco State University’s Downtown Campus was nestled within all the action.
All this grandeur didn’t come cheap: at $440 million, every inch sparkled, so much so that in 2009, it vied for-and won-a "Best-of-the-Best" global design and development award. If shopping malls went to the Oscars, this one would’ve danced out with a golden statue. Still, by 2011, even SFPD considered moving in to help tackle a growing shoplifting problem-a not-so-glamorous side of big city life.
Then came the especially wild ride: stores closing, reopening, new anchors, old names returning like lost socks. After years of store departures-Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s waving goodbye, restaurants clinging on with delivery orders, lawsuits flying back and forth, the saga sometimes felt more soap opera than shopping trip. The mall’s value plunged 75% from a whopping $1.2 billion in 2016 to just $290 million by early 2024. Imagine that on your credit card statement.
In April 2025, the last Bloomingdale’s packed up, leaving this nine-story giant with more echoes than excitement inside. Most residents now just order food online; with so few people wandering the halls, you might feel like you’ve stumbled onto the set of a post-apocalyptic movie-minus the zombies, but perhaps with a lost Lego figure or two.
These days, San Francisco Centre is at the crossroads of uncertainty and potential. Will it become a soccer stadium? A food hall? A pickleball wonderland? Only time will tell. But you’re standing where history still echoes, where the city’s shopping soul flickers, still waiting for its next big chapter.
