In an apparent attempt to halt the nonstop parade of terrible headlines about the former Westfield San Francisco Centre mall, the mall’s new management is renaming it “the Emporium Centre San Francisco” while promising more security and new attractions.

There has been nothing but bad news about the ex-Westfield mall in downtown SF since the anchor tenant Nordstrom announced they were leaving last May, followed by the announcement that mall’s owner was surrendering the whole property to its lender. Since then, the only thing you ever hear about the mall no-longer-called-Westfield mall has been that more tenants are leaving, or maybe some occasional news about shoplifting there.

So the mall's receiver, a court-appointed “distressed properties” firm called Trident Pacific, needs to fill those empty shop spaces. To that end, NBC Bay Area reports they’re renaming the place The Emporium Centre San Francisco, a nod to the original name of the The Emporium department store that opened on this property in 1896.

“During the Centre’s 128-year history, it has evolved with the times to sustain and reinvent itself as a community gathering place,” Trident Pacific principal receiver Gregg Williams said in a press release to SFGate. “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.”

And in another cool nod to history, Williams added in the release that “The façade was the only part of the building to survive the 1906 earthquake and was viewed by residents as a symbol of ‘courage and vigor’ during the City’s rebuilding.”

Obviously it is going to take a lot more than a rebrand to fix the Westfie — err, Emporium Centre’s problems. So that end, the mall’s management says they’re adding more security, and hoping to schedule arts and entertainment-type events there. They also want to add tenants with “experiential” attractions, whatever that means, and add more new restaurant tenants. But they already played the new Shake Shack card in 2021, so we’ll see how they try to one-up that addition.

The new management says they’ll also be rolling out a new logo, website, and social media channels in the weeks to come.

Related: J. Crew and Hollister Both Closing Stores at SF Centre Mall, Adding to String of Vacancies [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Centre via Yelp