Emporium-Capwell in the San Francisco Bay Area (1896—1996)

For a century, The Emporium and H. C. Capwell were among Northern California's most influential department store chains. Beginning as downtown flagships in San Francisco and Oakland, the two retailers helped define shopping for generations before expanding into suburban shopping centers across the Bay Area.

Although The Emporium and Capwell's had operated under common ownership since 1969, the combined Emporium-Capwell name became familiar to Bay Area shoppers during the 1980s.

The Emporium (1896–1980)

The Emporium began in San Francisco on May 25, 1896, opening a grand department store at Market Street and Powell Street. The store quickly became one of the city's most recognizable retail landmarks, famous for its glass-domed rotunda, elaborate displays, and extensive selection of merchandise.

For much of the twentieth century, The Emporium represented the premier department store for Northern California shoppers. While the downtown flagship remained the company's heart, postwar suburban growth created opportunities beyond San Francisco.

Inside The Emporium dome in San Francisco.

Beginning with Stonestown in 1952, The Emporium expanded into a new generation of shopping centers. Stores followed at Stanford Shopping Center, Hillsdale, Northgate, Coddingtown, Almaden Plaza, Tanforan, Northridge, and other major retail developments throughout Northern California.

1966 newspaper photo of The Emporium Coddingtown in Santa Rosa.

A 1970 ad for the opening of The Emporium Mountain View.

Many of these suburban branches were designed by prominent architects such as Welton Becket and reflected changing shopping habits as customers increasingly favored regional shopping centers over downtown department stores.

By the late 1960s, The Emporium had evolved from a single San Francisco flagship into one of the Bay Area's dominant department store chains. In 1969, The Emporium and Oakland-based Capwell's came under common ownership, though shoppers continued to encounter the two stores as separate brands for another decade.

Capwell's (1889–1980)

While The Emporium dominated San Francisco, H. C. Capwell's became one of the East Bay's most beloved department stores.

The company traced its roots to 1889, when Hastings Clothing Company opened in Oakland. Following a series of ownership changes, the business became H. C. Capwell's in 1910. By the time its landmark Art Deco store opened at Broadway and 20th Street in 1929, Capwell's had established itself as Oakland's premier department store.

H. C. Capwell store in Oakland from August 4, 1936.

Like many downtown retailers after World War II, Capwell's followed its customers into the suburbs. New branches opened at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, Hayward, El Cerrito Plaza, Fremont Fashion Center, and later Hilltop Mall in Richmond.

1957 ad for the grand opening of Capwell's in Hayward.

1968 ad showing Welton Becket's Early California style Capwell's Fremont with Mission tile roof.

Despite its expansion, Capwell's remained closely identified with Oakland. The downtown flagship's Terrace Restaurant became a destination in its own right, while generations of East Bay shoppers associated the Capwell's name with fashion shows, holiday displays, and special events.

While ownership changed in 1969, the Capwell's name remained familiar throughout the East Bay. It wasn't until 1980 that shoppers began seeing the two chains presented under a single identity: Emporium-Capwell.

The Emporium-Capwell Era (1980–1989)

Although The Emporium and Capwell's came under common ownership in 1969, shoppers continued to encounter the two chains as separate divisions for much of the following decade. By the late 1970s, however, retail competition was intensifying throughout California, and the company began presenting the stores under a unified identity.

The result was Emporium-Capwell.

For many Bay Area shoppers, this was the version of the chain they remembered best. Throughout the 1980s, the company continued to invest heavily in new stores. Emporium-Capwell opened at Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton in 1980, followed by Sunvalley in Concord, Solano in Fairfield, Southland in Hayward, Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino, and NewPark Mall in Newark. While the downtown flagships remained important symbols of the company, the future of department store retail increasingly belonged to suburban shopping centers.

1984 vintage ad for Emporium-Capwell.

1984 vintage ad for Emporium-Capwell.

The new stores reflected changing shopping habits. Rather than serving traditional downtown business districts, they were designed as anchors for enclosed malls, helping attract customers to expanding suburban communities throughout Northern California. Many locations featured bright, contemporary interiors, dedicated junior departments, large cosmetics areas, and expanded home furnishings sections aimed at a new generation of shoppers.

For a brief period, the chain occupied a unique place in Bay Area retail history. It combined the heritage of two historic department stores while embracing the suburban malls that defined shopping in the 1980s. For many Northern Californians, Emporium-Capwell became the department store they grew up with—whether shopping for back-to-school clothes, browsing the holiday displays, or meeting friends at the mall on a Saturday afternoon.

1988 Emporium-Capwell charge account agreement listing store locations across Northern California, offering a snapshot of the regional department store’s reach before its eventual merger with Macy’s.

The Return of The Emporium (1990–1996)

In October 1989, the company retired the Capwell name and returned to the simpler Emporium brand. While the change reflected the growing dominance of the San Francisco-based chain, it also marked the end of one of the East Bay's most recognizable retail names.

For most shoppers, little changed at first. The same stores remained open, many of the same employees continued working behind the counters, and familiar departments carried on under new signage. Yet the change hinted at a larger trend sweeping through the department store industry: consolidation.

That trend accelerated in 1995 when Federated Department Stores, the parent company of Macy's, acquired Broadway Stores and its subsidiaries. The purchase included The Emporium, which had become one of Northern California's largest department store chains.

The transition was brief. In 1996, most Emporium locations were converted into Macy's stores, bringing an end to a retail lineage that stretched back nearly a century. Some buildings continued operating as department stores under new names, while others were remodeled, expanded, or eventually demolished as malls evolved.

Although the Emporium name disappeared from storefronts, many former locations remain recognizable to shoppers today. In malls throughout Northern California, traces of the chain can still be found in building footprints, architectural details, and memories passed down by generations of customers.

Legacy

For one hundred years, The Emporium and Capwell's helped shape the shopping experience of Northern California.

Both chains began as downtown department stores before adapting to the rise of suburban shopping centers. Their stores anchored some of the Bay Area's most important malls, including Stonestown, Hillsdale, Sunvalley, Stoneridge, NewPark, Solano, Vallco, Southland, Eastridge, and many others. Along the way, they introduced generations of shoppers to fashion trends, holiday displays, restaurants, special events, and the rituals of department store shopping.

Today, the names survive in photographs, advertisements, postcards, directories, and the memories of shoppers who grew up with them. Yet their influence can still be seen throughout the region. Many of the malls they helped anchor remain active shopping destinations, while former store buildings continue to find new lives as Macy's stores, theaters, fitness centers, offices, and entertainment venues.

More than a department store chain, Emporium-Capwell represented a bridge between two eras of retail history: the grand downtown department stores of the early twentieth century and the suburban malls that defined the late twentieth century. Its story is also the story of how Northern California shopped for nearly a century—and how that experience changed along the way.

Emporium-Capwell store chronology

Unless noted, all stores closed in 1996.

The Emporium

1. Downtown - Opened May 25, 1896 at 835 Market Street in San Francisco.
2. Stonestown - Opened July 17, 1952 at Stonestown Shopping Center.
3. Stanford - Opened February 23, 1956 at the Stanford Shopping Center. The building was demolished in 2016.
4. Stevens Creek - Opened March 8, 1957 in Santa Clara. When the new Valley Fair Mall opened in October 1986, the store would be known as Emporium-Capwell Valley Fair.
5. Hillsdale - Opened September 12, 1962 at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo. Architect was Welton Becket & Associates.
6. Marin - Opened June 26, 1964 at Northgate Mall in San Rafael.
7. Santa Rosa - Opened July 14, 1966 at Coddington Mall in Santa Rosa. The Emporium had the first escalators in Sonoma county.
8. Almaden - Opened August 8, 1968 at San Jose's Almaden Plaza. Welton Becket designed the store and adjoining shopping center. 
9. Mountain View - Opened October 29, 1970 on El Camino Real in Mountain View. A large restaurant, the El Camino Room, overlooked El Camino Real. That same year, Emporium-Capwell merged with Broadway-Hale Stores of Los Angeles. Later renamed to Carter Hawley Hale, a name we'd hear a lot later. The Emporium and Capwell's each were assigned as separate divisions in the new parent company.
10. Salinas - A 179,000 sq. ft. store opened July 6, 1972 at Northridge Mall in Salinas.
11. Tanforan - Opened September 28, 1972 with a 197,000 sq. ft. store at Tanforan Park Shopping Center in San Bruno.
12. Eastridge - Opened on August 17, 1978 in a former Liberty House store at Eastridge Mall in San Jose.

Capwell's

1. Oakland - Opened August 5, 1929 at 20th and Broadway in Oakland. It had a beautiful restaurant, The Terrace, which remained open until December 1984. 
2. Walnut Creek - Opened March 19, 1954 at Broadway Plaza. Architect was Welton A. Becket & Associates.
3. Hayward - Opened September 11, 1957 in downtown Hayward. It closed on September 30, 1983 when the store moved to Southland Mall. It became Mervyn's headquarters before being knocked down.
4. El Cerrito - Opened July 9, 1958 at El Cerrito Plaza.
5. Fremont - Opened February 22, 1968 at the Fremont Fashion Center. Became a clearance center in 1987 when the store moved to NewPark Mall in Newark. Closed in 1992 when the building was sold to Washington Hospital.
6. Hilltop - Opened August 4, 1976 at Hilltop Mall in Richmond.

Emporium-Capwell

By 1980, The Emporium and Capwell's divisions merged into one unified name, Emporium-Capwell. It last until October 1989 when it became "Emporium."

1. Stoneridge - Opened September 4, 1980 at Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton.
2. Sunvalley - Opened February 5, 1981 at Sunvalley Shopping Center in Concord.
3. Solano - Opened February 3, 1983 at Solano Mall in Fairfield. The store was designed by Architects Pacifica Ltd.
4. Southland - Opened October 15, 1983 in a former Liberty House at Southland Mall in Hayward. This was a relocation of the Capwell's Hayward store.
5. Vallco - Opened November 19, 1984 in a former Bullock's store at Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino.
6. NewPark - A 182,000 sq. ft. store opened February 7, 1987 at NewPark Mall in Newark. This was a relocation of the Capwell's Fremont store, which became a clearance center. The store was designed by Architects Pacifica Ltd. It was one of the few stores to have just "Emporium" signage on the store after "Capwell's" was dropped by the company parent in 1989. The building was gutted to the steel beams and now houses AMC theaters.

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• Emporium-Capwell sites — field guide
• Emporium-Capwell Valley Fair: the 1986 store directory