This is not news that anyone wanted to hear today about San Francisco and its downtown recovery efforts, but following in the footsteps of major retailers Nordstrom and Macy's, Bloomingdale's is shuttering its massive SF store.

Bloomingdale's announced Tuesday that it will close its flagship San Francisco store at the SF Centre mall as of "late spring," or the end of March — a statement from the company says the former, but the Chronicle is reporting the latter, which would be early spring.

The store, which has certainly felt under-trafficked in recent years much like its sibling Macy's at Union Square, occupies the other anchor space at the SF Centre that has been a vague glimmer of hope for the mall, after the closing of anchor tenant Nordstrom in 2023.

This leaves the mall, which continues to be in receivership after the departure of former owners the Westfield Corporation in 2023, in even worse shape when it comes to turnaround efforts.

Multiple smaller but prominent retailers have shuttered their spaces in the mall in the last two years, including J. Crew, Hollister, Adidas, and the Lego Store, and the Michael Kors store, which occupies a space facing Market Street, announced its closure last week.

While the court-appointed receiver has filled some of unoccupied spaces, several sections of the mall, including all of the fourth floor that was once home to "The Restaurant Collection," have lain sadly vacant for a number of years now.

"We are saddened to confirm that Bloomingdale’s will officially close its doors in Union Square, San Francisco," the company said in a statement. "While we are committed to this decision, Bloomingdale’s doors will remain open until late spring 2025.  We are hopeful to be back to serve the San Francisco community in the future and look forward to introducing new ways to provide enhanced service to our loyal local shoppers."

Macy's, which owns Bloomingdale's, has been downsizing in recent years and has plans to close its Union Square flagship once it sells the property. Macy's is also closing stores in San Mateo, Corte Madera, and Newark.

But according to the company, the Bloomingdale's brand, as well as its cosmetics chain Bluemercury, were still doing well in the struggling brick-and-mortar retail marketplace, while the Macy's brand is flagging. This led to speculation that the company could relocate Bloomingdale's from the SF Centre to the Union Square building — though they reportedly still had a decade left on their lease at the SF Centre.

A veteran retail real estate broker, Kazuko Morgan, calls the news of the closure "more heartbreaking than Macy's," speaking to the Chronicle. Morgan says that retail overall has been "on a good momentum," but this is no doubt a big blow.

Stay tuned for some sort of statement from Mayor Daniel Lurie, who like Mayor Breed before him with the Macy's news, was likely blindsided by this — and this won't be an easy or quick problem to fix.