Westfield San Francisco Centre

“It’s absolutely the most magnificent urban retail destination I think anywhere in the country, if not anywhere in the world.”

Dr. Natalie Berg, regional vice president of Forest City Development

Such high praise might be disregarded as unabashed hype. But as officials, dignitaries, shoppers and sightseers got their first looks at the Westfield San Francisco Centre, seeing is believing.

Featuring nine levels and 1.5 million square feet of premium retail, dining, entertainment and office space, the new Westfield San Francisco Centre opened with fanfare to match.

The highly anticipated destination – which underwent a historic, $600-million transformation – celebrated its official grand opening on Thursday, Sept. 28, with a ribbon cutting unlike any other.

The spectacle kicked off with San Francisco vocalist Kim Nalley belting out the jazz standard, “At Last.” Then, in true Cirque-Du-Soleil fashion, a harnessed acrobat rappelled down 98 feet from the top of the Centre’s signature glass dome, unfurling a red ribbon on the way down.

"This is my first mall opening. If they're all like this, I'm going to come to all mall openings," said California first lady Maria Shriver, who joined San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, prominent local officials and a host of executives from Forest City and The Westfield Group for the grand opening breakfast.

The consumer celebration began earlier that week on Tuesday, Sept. 26, as shoppers lined up at 7 a.m. for their first sneak peak at Bloomingdale’s brand new, $100 million West Coast flagship location. By 9 a.m., the line to shop at the five-level, luxury department store stretched down Mission Street and snaked around the corner onto Market Street. By noon, it was an hour wait just to get inside. Officials estimated that at some point cash registers were ringing up $100,000 in sales an hour!

Bloomingdale’s jewel-box design with stunning glass façade along Mission Street provides the perfect, modern counterpart to the restored, vintage elegance of the Centre’s Market Street façade. Topped-off by a nine-screen, state-of-the-art Century Theatres, San Francisco’s new Bloomingdale’s is “one of the finest department stores built in the last 50 years,” according to Brian Jones, president and CEO, Forest City Commercial Development – West Coast Division.

As the rest of the mall opened later that week, shoppers clutched purchases from over 170 specialty shops – including many retailers and concepts new to the city. And they certainly didn’t forget Nordstrom, which, along with Bloomingdale’s, marks the dynamic duo’s first shared retail center.  

With an unprecedented tenant list, location and architectural beauty and design, it is no surprise that Westfield San Francisco Centre is regarded as the preeminent urban retail destination in the U.S., if not the world.