The iconic sign above the former Nordstrom store at the San Francisco Centre mall was removed by workers on Friday afternoon.
Nordstrom closed its behemoth store in the former Westfield mall on Aug. 27, almost four months after it would shutter both its Downtown San Francisco locations.
The gold lettering was in the process of being removed by workers on Friday afternoon when The Standard visited.
French real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which co-owns the building with Brookfield Properties, announced in June it would give up control of the mall and planned to default on a multimillion-dollar loan for the space. The mall has since been renamed San Francisco Centre.
Mayor London Breed has floated the idea of demolishing the mall and turning the space into a soccer stadium.
San Francisco architect Mark Hogan also recently floated the left-field idea of turning the mall's vacant department-store floors into a Legoland.
“I feel terrible about it,” Michael Tsang said as he walked down Fifth Street, “seeing it leave because of all of the drugs and crime around here.”
Vito Ferrara, who has been living in San Francisco for nine years, said any business moving into the former location should be concerned about the environment surrounding the mall.
“I’ve seen people support themselves based on what they’ve been able to steal from this mall,” Ferrara said. “Anyone who moves into this spot will have to deal with that reality.”
Ferrara said crime at the location should be worrisome for anyone moving their business into the Nordstrom location.
When the Nordstrom at the former Westfield San Francisco Centre mall opened in the fall of 1988, thousands lined up to see the department store's spiral escalators and retractable skylight, the champagne and caviar bar, the five-star spa and the live pianist.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield did not respond to a request for comment.