History

In 1896, Adolph Feiss founded The Emporium as a cooperative of privately-owned stores at the historic Market Street address. It soon became the flagship location of the Northern California department store chain for nearly 100 years. One of the first Americans to be trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, architect Albert Pissis designed the building in this elaborate style. The Emporium became a hub of social activity featuring a two-tiered bandstand and café under the magnificent Dome, where concerts were held every Saturday night.

In 1906, a massive earthquake devastated San Francisco. The subsequent fires consumed all of The Emporium except the beaux arts façade on Market Street. It took two years to rebuild the structure and its celebrated Dome. The beautiful flagship on Market between 4th and 5th Streets remained a shopping destination for generations of Bay Area residents and visitors until 1996.

Forest City Enterprises and The Westfield Group began a $460 million transformation to reopen the monumental location in 2006. During the revitalization, the building's neoclassical facade and dome were beautifully restored, while the interior was rebuilt to meet the highest seismic standards. The legendary Dome now reigns as the stunning landmark of the centre.

Each year, 20 million guests visit the newly expanded Westfield San Francisco Centre’s more than 1.5 million square foot venue. The third largest urban shopping center in the nation offers more than 170 specialty stores including the west coast flagship of Bloomingdale’s, the second largest Nordstrom, and Burke Williams Day Spa, the city’s largest day spa at 16,000 square feet. The exclusive dining choices of the Restaurant Collection Under the Dome, the Food Emporium and Bristol Farms fulfill the centre’s promise as the finest shopping, dining and entertainment destination in San Francisco.