Exodus Continues at San Francisco's Downtown Mall

One of the largest remaining stores at the Union Square mall that went into receivership last year—a retailer who is suing the former owners, Westfield, claiming they failed to address safety issues at the mall—is shutting the store in July.

American Eagle Outfitters, which occupies a large retail space at the main entrance of the mall—now called Emporium Centre San Francisco—has disclosed that it will permanently close the outlet on July 12, four years before its lease expires, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

In September, AE Retail West, parent company of the fashion brand, filed a lawsuit In San Francisco Superior Court against the former mall owners, Westfield, alleging that they failed to address more than 100 “significant security incidents” at its store in the mall between May 2020 and May 2023.

The mall-then known as the Westfield Centre, the largest mall in San Francisco-was jointly owned by Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) and Brookfield Properties. In June, URW disclosed that the Westfield Centre, located at 856 Market Street, was going back to its lenders after the owner stopped making payments on a $558M loan.

A month earlier, when Nordstrom announced its plans to vacate a 300K SF store that anchored the Westfield Centre, URW issued a statement citing unsafe conditions in the downtown area.

“The closure of Nordstrom underscores the deteriorating situation in downtown San Francisco. A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the are due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area,” URW’s statement said.

AE Retail’s lawsuit claims the mall owners were part of the problem: it says they allowed a “slow decline in performance” to turn into “full neglect” that allowed the mall to become a “lightning rod” for criminal activity, according to a report in the Chronicle.

“On multiple occasions, patrons have brandished firearms while verbally assaulting the store’s employees. American Eagle employees have suffered multiple physical attacks and assaults. In one instance. A patron even threatened American Eagle staff with a machete,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit accuses Westfield of closing its management office at the mall, “leaving American Eagle on its own to deal with Westfield’s unmonitored common areas and their problems.”

American Eagle is seeking all actual and compensatory monetary damages due to the alleged breach of contract regarding mall security and maintenance promised in the lease with the chain, which was set to run through 2028.