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The Westfield Mall dome in San Francisco. The shopping center opened in October of 1988.

The Westfield Mall announced it will be closing its location on Market St. within the next year. The close is attributed to a myriad of contributing factors, including loss of sales, foot traffic and increased crime within the area. 

“I used to go to Westfield all the time with my friends to go shopping at Bath & Body Works,” senior Seda Perry said. “We would always walk around the mall and run into people we knew,”

Situated in the financial district, Westfield Mall is one of the biggest commercial centers in San Francisco, featuring nine stories and over 170 stores and restaurants, according to Westfield. Over the pandemic there’s been a steady decline of sales and foot traffic, decreasing from 9.7 million visits in 2019 to 5.6 million in 2022.

“I’m not surprised about Nordstrom in Westfield closing,” science teacher Caroline Falvey said. “Where I grew up, the Nordstrom had everything you could need,”

In May, the three-story Nordstrom pulled out of Westfield alongside other stores like Banana Republic, leaving the mall’s occupancy at 45% vacant. Alongside Westfield, a roster of other major retailers are shutting down their locations in Union Square such as Whole Foods, Anthropology, Christian Louboutin, LuluLemon and Disney.

“I worked at Nordstrom last summer and people were constantly stealing from the store,” senior Isabel Ramirez-Knott said. “Because of the store policy for insurance reasons and our safety we couldn’t confront them, so the store kept losing profit,” 

 The future of Westfield is unclear, but the stores inside the mall will most likely remain open under new management. Mayor London Breed has suggested using the vacant space from Nordstrom for a soccer stadium, according to X. 

“My favorite time of year to go to Westfield was Christmas or to go Black Friday shopping,” Perry said. “It was really epic and I have so many memories there, I’m so sad it’s closing.”