Stonestown Galleria is opening an hour earlier on Fridays and Saturdays, a modest schedule change that highlights the sharply different fortunes of San Francisco’s two major shopping centers.
The mall will open at 10 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. on those days, according to an announcement this week.
The change comes as Stonestown continues to add retailers and attract shoppers while San Francisco Centre, once the city’s largest mall, sits empty on Market Street and searches for a new buyer.
Stonestown’s owner, Brookfield Properties, said last year that the mall had nearly no vacancies. It includes Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, a movie theater, a gym and restaurants.
The mall’s location near San Francisco State University, along with its parking and public transit access, has helped draw customers, retail experts told the Chronicle.
The contrast with the city’s once-thriving downtown retail hub is stark.
The 1.5-million-square-foot San Francisco Centre, which closed in January, was once anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s but lost most of its tenants after the coronavirus pandemic reduced downtown foot traffic and its owners defaulted on a mortgage.
The property is now being marketed to new buyers after a proposed sale to developers Prado Group and Presidio Bay Ventures fell apart earlier this year. Bids are expected Sept. 9, according to CBRE, the brokerage handling the sale.
Its ground lease with the San Francisco Unified School District was recently extended through 2082, with lower annual payments intended to improve the property’s long-term finances.
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This article originally published at Stonestown Galleria adds hours as downtown San Francisco Centre sits empty.