The Emporium Centre San Francisco, formerly known as the Westfield San Francisco Centre, continues on the vacancy train with the announcement of the July closure of American Eagle Outfitters, one of the larger remaining stores in the mall.
American Eagle's parent company filed suit against the mall's former owner-operator, Westfield, citing "full neglect" of the property in the wake of the pandemic. The lawsuit said Westfield had allowed the mall to "deteriorate into disarray" by cutting back security before it surrendered the property to its lender last summer. "Westfield cannot walk away from the harm that it has caused without consequence," the company's lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleged that the store had seen over 100 separate security incidents between May 2020 and May 2023, with some involving armed suspects brandishing weapons and threatening store employees.
Now, four years ahead of its lease expiration, American Eagle Outfitters is closing its store effective July 12. As the Chronicle reports, this will result in 52 lost jobs, and create another major vacancy next to the street-level entrance at Fifth and Market streets, on the (former) Nordstrom side.
American Eagle still maintains stores in San Mateo, Concord, Livermore, and Pleasanton.
The steady parade of exiting retailers from the mall since last spring has been staggering, with major tenants Nordstrom and Cinemark leaving the biggest vacancies to fill.
Other closures in the last six months have included Sephora, J. Crew, Hollister, Lucky Brand, The LEGO Store, Adidas, Burberry, and L'Occitane.
Since October, an expert in distressed assets, Trident Pacific, has been the court-ordered receiver for the mall property. Presumably they have been beefing security back up and seeking out new tenants at the mall — and the Chronicle reported several weeks ago that three of the vacant storefronts, including the former Burberry store, now have red "leased" signs on them.
In March, the new management rebranded the mall as the Emporium Centre San Francisco, in a nod to the longtime department store that lived at the property in the 20th Century, The Emporium.
Previously: American Eagle Sues Westfield Mall, Saying Ownership Let the Place ‘Deteriorate Into Disarray’
Photo via Yelp