It's not new news that Williams-Sonoma is planning to depart from Union Square, but now the time has come, as Chanel plans to relocate to the building at the top of the park.
Bay Area-born cookware and houseware brand Williams-Sonoma is winding down business at its four-story, Union Square flagship store, which it has occupied since 2003. As the Chronicle reports, via employees at the store, the store will close at the end of this month, with a clearance sale already underway.
The company, with its headquarters at Fort Mason, has yet to confirm the news.
We first learned that Williams-Sonoma would be leaving Union Square nearly three years ago, after luxury retailer Chanel purchased the building at 340 Post Street in late 2022. The price: $63 million. While Chanel did not announce immediate plans to relocate from its current digs on Geary Street, the clock began ticking for Williams-Sonoma.
The closure comes at a time of transition for Union Square retail overall, as many storefronts along Powell and Stockton streets sit vacant, and as a plan for Macy's to ultimately close its enormous store remains somewhat in limbo. (A local developer is working up plans to redevelop the property, likely for mixed uses, and it remains to be seen if that will include a space for Macy's to continue operating out of.)
Just blocks away on Market Street, a huge mall sits nearly dead, with the final tenants now being evicted, and a redevelopment plan there could take years to take shape. And Saks Fifth Avenue's sizeable department store at Post and Powell sits vacant after officially closing last year.
Still, there are positive signs pointing toward an eventual upswing. These include the recent reopening of the street-level spaces at the Westin St. Francis as the grand Bourbon Steak and Bourbon Lounge, the bustling shopping activity at the new Nintendo store and Shoe Palace across the street, and of course the Apple and Nike stores remain constant draws.
Also, Zara is preparing to open a new, multi-story flagship store across from Saks, John Varvatos is returning to the square after closing its store several years ago, and Uniqlo is returning as well, but down on Market Street in the former Old Navy.
Williams-Sonoma was founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 out of a hardware store he had opened on the square in Sonoma. After traveling to France, Williams hatched a plan to begin selling restaurant-quality French cookware and servingware to American homemakers, and converted his store for this purpose, relocating to San Francisco just two years later due to customer demand.
That original SF store was located off of Union Square at 576 Sutter Street.
The store became a destination for cooks and foodies including Julia Child, and Williams launched his highly successful mail-order catalogue business in 1972.
The closure this month means it will be the first time that San Francisco has been without a Williams-Sonoma retail location in nearly 70 years. The company has not yet said whether they have plans to open a new store elsewhere in the area, or in the city.
Photo via Google Street View
