Sponsor MessageBecome a KQED sponsor
upper waypoint

Why Some Bay Area Malls Are Thriving While Others Are Dying

Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

Interior of San Francisco Centre shopping mall on August 19, 2025. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Airdate: Thursday, September 4 at 9AM

Forum is now on YouTube. Subscribe to the KQED News YouTube channel and watch the full interview.

The fast-evolving retail landscape has zapped the life out of once bustling shopping centers throughout the Bay Area. And yet, many of the region’s legacy malls are still thriving. While San Francisco Centre, the former home of high-end department stores downtown, is now mostly empty, a revamped Stonestown in San Francisco’s west side is full of shoppers. Tenants such as indoor arcades, escape rooms and niche food vendors are drawing crowds to once desolate malls. We talk about where Bay Area shoppers are still going and how brick and mortar shopping is changing.

Guests:

Heather Knight, San Francisco bureau chief, The New York Times

Michael Berne, president, MJB Consulting

Kirthi Kalyanam, marketing department chair, director of the Retail Management Institute, Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business

Sponsored

lower waypoint
next waypoint
Player sponsored by