Stonestown Galleria Begins as a City Within a City
When the Stoneson brothers opened Stonestown Galleria in 1952, it was introduced as Stonestown Shopping Center, set beside Lake Merced and San Francisco State University.
The development was built by Stoneson Development Corporation, designed for both retail and residential. Apartments were added around the mall, providing housing for 3,000 to 3,500 residents.
The Emporium opened on July 16, 1952, serving as the first anchor. Other early tenants included Walgreens, Woolworth's, Butler Brothers, Gallenkamp Shoes, and the Red Chimney restaurant.
Local needs were met with a grocery store, a bakery, and, later, movie theaters on site. From the start, Stonestown combined commercial convenience with neighborhood living.
Shoppers could walk across polished concourses that linked one-story stores while residents lived in nearby towers and low-rise apartments.
The mix of services made it unusual in San Francisco at the time, offering department stores alongside daily-use shops.
The Emporium's arrival drew attention as it was among the largest retailers in the city, and the supporting tenants reinforced the plan for a self-sustained complex.
The integration of food, shoes, pharmacy, and leisure reflected how the project was built to serve both the mall's customers and the surrounding community.
By the end of its first year, the center had set the tone for what it would become: a retail hub with 42 acres of property combining shopping and housing.
Stoneson Development Corporation also went on to develop other projects, such as Lakeside Village and Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, but Stonestown stood out for its scale and integration.
It became a fixture for westside San Francisco, where suburban-style shopping malls were still new.
Cinema Screens and Expanding Floors
In 1970, a new building went up in the parking lot behind Stonestown. United Artists opened a cinema there, designed by San Francisco architect George K Raad.
The theater opened with one screen, its marquee visible to anyone driving into the mall.
Shoppers handled their errands during the day and returned for films at night without leaving the site.
Expansion turned it into a multiplex, where it stayed active through later decades.
Bullock's arrived in 1977 as a new anchor. Its multi-level store sold apparel, cosmetics, and household products, designed to keep customers circulating.
Together with The Emporium, it provided the mall with two large anchors.
The addition shifted the mall's strategy toward department stores to stabilize traffic, in line with trends of the period.
By the end of the 1970s, Stonestown had two new engines driving its business.
The theater kept evenings active, while Bullock's pulled in daytime customers. The cinema stayed in operation for fifty years before closing in spring 2020.
Bullock's followed a different path: its space was converted into a Nordstrom in 1988, showing how anchor stores could be rebranded when corporate ownership changed.
A New Look and a New Name in the 1980s
By 1987, Stonestown was ready for a full overhaul. Architect John Field directed a redevelopment that transformed the shopping center.
A second story of retail was added above the existing level, doubling the capacity for tenants and creating space for a new food court.
Skylights brought natural light into the interior, while marble floors and columns gave the corridors a polished finish.
The project also tackled infrastructure. Winston Drive, which once divided the property, was routed into an underpass so the mall could operate as a continuous complex.
About 350 underground parking spaces were built to absorb the loss of surface lots and make room for the expanded footprint.
These adjustments supported the growth of enclosed malls across the country in the late 1980s.
On October 28, 1987, the renovated property reopened as Stonestown Galleria. In 1988, Bullock's transitioned to Nordstrom, a department store recognized for fashion and service.
Together with The Emporium, Nordstrom anchored a new chapter for the mall with a remodeled interior.
Retail Consolidation and Ownership Shifts
The mid-1990s brought changes to the anchor lineup.
After Federated Department Stores acquired Broadway Stores in 1995, the Emporium at Stonestown Galleria was converted into Macy's in 1996.
The transition kept a large department store in place, while giving the property a brand tied more closely to national reach. Other development ideas surfaced soon after.
In December 2003, plans were introduced to add nearly 300 residential units and a grocery store on land next to the mall's 42-acre site.
Local groups pushed back, citing traffic, safety, and environmental issues, and the proposal was withdrawn by Heitman Financial, the manager at the time.
The canceled project highlighted the challenges of integrating housing into an already congested retail area.
Ownership changed hands in 2004. That year, General Growth Properties bought Stonestown Galleria from Pacific Acquisition Corp.
for $312 million. The mall's purchase brought it into a national portfolio and set up new management approaches.
Closures and Anchor Losses in the 2010s
In November 2017, Macy's announced it would close its Stonestown Galleria store.
The location had been converted from Emporium two decades earlier, but by 2018, the company pulled out.
The store shut in March of that year, leaving a large two-level anchor space empty at the north end of the mall. Its closure mirrored wider downsizing across Macy's portfolio.
The loss of Macy's left Nordstrom and Target as the main anchors, but the balance shifted again soon after.
On June 6, 2018, reports circulated that Nordstrom might exit within 18 months.
Though the company initially declined to confirm, the decision became clear the following year.
In September 2019, Nordstrom closed its doors after more than three decades in the former Bullock's space.
By the close of the decade, Stonestown Galleria was reduced to one major anchor: Target.
The exits of Macy's and Nordstrom stripped the mall of two long-standing department stores that had been there since the 20th century.
The empty anchors created large vacancies at both ends, forcing management to consider new strategies for filling the spaces.
These closures reshaped the tenant mix, pushing the property to lean more heavily on mid-size chains and smaller specialty retailers to maintain its draw.
Entertainment and New Tenants in the 2020s
In 2021, Brookfield Properties, which owned and managed Stonestown Galleria, announced its Stonestown Reimagined vision.
The plan called for the mall to evolve into a town center model with retail, housing, and open space.
While long-range redevelopment plans advanced, anchor vacancies from the prior decade began to be filled.
The former Macy's site, cleared in 2019, was rebuilt with a mix of uses. Regal Cinemas opened there, joined by Whole Foods Market and Sports Basement.
This combination turned the space into a blend of entertainment, groceries, and sporting goods, replacing the single-purpose department store format that had dominated for decades.
On September 8, 2023, Round1, a Japanese arcade and entertainment chain, announced it would occupy the former Nordstrom.
The venue opened on November 9, 2024, adding bowling lanes, arcade games, and karaoke.
Its arrival brought another form of leisure activity to the complex, extending evening hours and broadening the mall's tenant mix.
The tenant list grew. Shake Shack launched a restaurant, joined by Vans, GNC, and DSW. Target and Trader Joe's continued without change as anchors.
These steps showed how the mall in the 2020s leaned more on variety, mixing big chains with new entrants.
Redevelopment and Renewal in 2024–2025
In May 2024, the San Francisco Planning Commission approved a redevelopment plan for Stonestown Galleria.
The $2 billion project was confirmed two months later, when the Board of Supervisors gave final approval in July.
The plan called for the transformation of about 30 acres of surface parking into new housing and mixed-use development around the existing mall.
The project outlined between 3,300 and 3,500 residential units, with roughly 20 percent designated as affordable.
It also included about 160,000 square feet of new retail and close to 100,000 square feet of office space.
Plans added community elements as well, including parks, a senior center, and a community hub.
Parking would be reorganized, with around 2,450 surface spaces eliminated and approximately 3,400 structured spaces built to support residents and visitors.
As redevelopment moved through approvals, new tenants filled space in the mall.
Pop Mart drew long lines with product drops at its Stonestown Galleria store in July 2024.
H&M confirmed in June 2025 that it would return to its old spot after a six-year absence. Raising Cane's plans to open in late summer 2026 on the former McDonald's site.
These steps showed how large redevelopment plans ran alongside smaller tenant activity that defined the mall's daily pace in 2024 and 2025.