San Francisco & Peninsula malls

From early suburban shopping centers on the Peninsula to urban retail complexes in San Francisco, the region's shopping centers reflect two very different approaches to growth.

Communities such as Daly City, San Bruno, and San Mateo embraced the postwar suburban model, building shopping centers that served expanding residential neighborhoods and, later, regional trade areas. At the same time, San Francisco adapted the shopping center concept to a dense urban environment through downtown retail complexes, mixed-use developments, and destination-oriented projects.

Together, these centers trace the evolution of retail from the automobile age of the 1950s through the regional mall boom of the 1970s and 1980s, and into the era of redevelopment and mixed-use districts.

Early suburban shopping centers (1950s)

The Peninsula was among the first parts of the Bay Area to embrace the postwar shopping center. Centers such as Stonestown, Hillsdale, and Westlake were built to serve rapidly growing suburban communities, reflecting the shift from traditional downtown shopping districts to automobile-oriented retail.

Regional retail expansion (1970s)

As suburban development accelerated, shopping centers grew larger and began drawing customers from across the region. Serramonte and Tanforan reflected the rise of the regional mall, serving communities throughout northern San Mateo County and beyond.

Serramonte Mall — Daly City (1968)
Tanforan Mall — San Bruno (1971)

The mall boom reaches the Peninsula (1980s)

By the early 1980s, developers were still betting on enclosed malls as retail destinations. Fashion Island represented one of the last major enclosed malls built on the Peninsula before changing retail trends and market conditions began reshaping the industry.

Fashion Island — San Mateo (1981)

Urban retail complexes in San Francisco

While suburban communities embraced regional malls, San Francisco adapted the shopping center concept to a dense urban environment. Mixed-use developments such as Embarcadero Center and Crocker Galleria combined offices, public spaces, and retail, while San Francisco Centre represented a modern attempt to reinforce downtown shopping.

A region shaped by two retail traditions

Unlike most parts of the Bay Area, the San Francisco and Peninsula region developed through both suburban malls and urban retail complexes. Together, these centers illustrate how shopping adapted to two very different landscapes—one shaped by postwar suburban expansion and the other by the challenges and opportunities of a dense urban core.

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San Mateo Fashion Island — the mall that arrived too late

Originally published in 2006; expanded and updated in 2026. San Mateo Fashion Island opened in 1981 at the height of the American mall boom. Anchored by JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Bullock's, and Liberty House, the project represented decades of retail thinking: build a bigger mall, add more department stores, and shoppers would come. But Fashion Island arrived at a turning point. Within just a few years of opening, two of its four anchors had abandoned the Northern California market entirely. Meanwhile, nearby Hillsdale Mall reinvented itself and captured much of the attention Fashion Island had hoped to command. The result was one of the Bay Area's earliest major mall failures—a shopping center that opened at the peak of department-store dominance only to discover that the retail landscape was already changing beneath its feet. Annotated Apple Maps view of San Mateo showing the location of Fashion Island mall, positioned off Highway 92, and near Hillsdale Mall. 1970s orig...

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Top 10 largest malls in Northern California (2025)

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