Clock runs out: San Francisco Centre to close Monday

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Centre is set to close for good on Monday, nearly 20 years after its highly anticipated opening.

Inside the cavernous downtown mall, most shops are shuttered, escalators stand empty and preparations are underway for its final day.

“Can’t wait until it opens up,” customers said on opening day in September 2006. “Let us get in there.”

From bustling destination to near-empty halls

What we know:

The scene is a stark contrast to two decades ago, when crowds lined Market Street to shop at what was then known as the Westfield Centre. At the time, the mall was projected to attract 25 million visitors a year.

Today, foot traffic is sparse. Of the mall’s roughly 1.5 million square feet of retail space, only one store, an Ecco shoe shop, appears to remain open.

Visitors new to San Francisco, and unfamiliar with the mall’s decline, said they were surprised by how empty it felt.

“It was pretty lame going in there, I’m not going to lie,” said Nathan Boria. “I saw all these locations on the map, and I kind of got emotional thinking, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of places in here.’ But when I go in there, it’s all dead. No restaurants, no stores. It was all just empty.”

Memories of what once was

Local perspective:

Others recalled the mall as a gathering place, particularly for teenagers drawn to its movie theaters and food court.

“Things just started disappearing,” said Josue Reyes. “At this point, everything is gone. It’s going to be missed for sure.”

Visitors said it was difficult to reconcile the empty corridors with their memories of a bustling shopping center.

“I remember when this side opened,” said Heather Snow. “I haven’t been here in a long time, and I was just like, ‘Well, it’s closing — let’s just see.’ It’s pretty weird to walk through an empty mall.”

What comes next

Big picture view:

What will replace the mid-Market monument remains unclear.

Mayor Daniel Lurie said the city is working to create conditions for the space’s future redevelopment.

“There are people who want to move into that incredible space,” Lurie said. “I’m not concerned about big ideas, great ideas coming in. They’re happening. I just have to continue to create the conditions for that mall to succeed.”

A gradual shutdown

The closure has unfolded in stages. There are no partitions separating the east and west sides of the mall, and doors remain open where Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom once operated. BART entrances connected to the mall were recently closed, leaving street-level doors as the only remaining points of entry.