The Mervyn's at Geary and Masonic has sat empty for two years. A Toys-R-Us and Good Guys also closed down. Now the City Center mall has a Best Buy, Office Depot, Payless Shoes and a handful of smaller stores.
San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar remembers that corner before Mervyn's.
"The whole site was taken up by Sears and I remember, you could get a hamburger on the top floor," said Mar.
Now retail giant Target is in talks with the city to open a store in the former Mervyn's and part of what was Good Guys. Much-needed jobs and tax revenue would come along with it.
The closest locations now are in Daly City and Colma, but the city requires big chain stores to go through a special approval process. Mar believes there will be community meetings for Target to hear about traffic concerns and the possible effect on small businesses.
"I'm going to be advocating for the small businesses because I want to see them benefit, but again, a big store could potentially bring in more people that would shop at the smaller businesses," says Mar.
Shoppers going to the Best Buy and Trader Joe's across the street need no convincing.
"Target would be no problem for me. I think it would be fabulous," says San Francisco resident Mary Stuart.
"My boyfriend and my family lives up here and every time I come, I wish they had an all-around store like Target where I could one-stop shop," says San Francisco resident Shira Mehrnia.
Mar confirms target is also looking at the Metreon and the 900 block of Market Street, where a development called City Place is in the works.
It goes before the planning commission on Thursday.
Target issued a statement saying only, "...We are very excited about potential opportunities to expand Target's presence in the San Francisco market. There are no specific details to share at this time."
If approved, the Target at Masonic and Geary could open its doors as soon as 2012.
