Bristol Farms to close lone SF store Jan. 27

The Bristol Farms in San Francisco’s Westfield Shopping Centre opened in 2006. It boasted carrying 20,000 food items, with about half of the 30,000-square-foot store devoted to prepared foods. The Bristol Farms in San Francisco’s Westfield Shopping Centre opened in 2006. It boasted carrying 20,000 food items, with about half of the 30,000-square-foot store devoted to prepared foods. Photo: Chris Stewart, SFC Photo: Chris Stewart, SFC Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Bristol Farms to close lone SF store Jan. 27 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

The only Northern California location of the upscale grocery store chain Bristol Farms will close Jan. 27 in the lower level of the Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping mall, according to store employees.

The 30,000-square-foot Bristol Farms was an original tenant when Westfield expanded in 2006 after a major remodel that added 110 stores, including Bloomingdale’s. The store has a full meat and seafood counter, sushi bar, fresh produce, prepared foods, catering service and a chocolate confection case.

Representatives of Bristol Farms did not return requests for comment, and a Westfield spokeswoman said the mall has no word about a replacement tenant.

Having a full-service grocery store in an urban mall, without parking, was a fairly unusual concept for the Bay Area when Bristol Farms opened. Since then, Target opened in the nearby Metreon with a small grocery department, and a Trader Joe’s is due to open a block away at the corner of Market and Fourth streets. However, the Trader Joe’s opening, scheduled for Oct. 14, has been postponed until this year, according to the company’s website.

Bristol Farms, which has corporate headquarters in Carson (Los Angeles County), opened its first store in Rolling Hills, also in Los Angeles County, in 1982. Besides San Francisco, it has 10 other stores in the Los Angeles area, Orange County, Palm Desert and La Jolla. Through its parent company, Good Food Holdings, it also owns Lazy Acres Market, a natural foods store with three Southern California locations, and Metropolitan Market, a chain with six stores in the Seattle area.

Bristol Farms was owned by Albertsons and its parent company, Supervalu, between 2004 and 2010, when Albertsons converted some of its large-scale grocery stores to the higher-end, and typically smaller, Bristol Farms design. Good Food Holdings is now co-owned by members of the store management team and private investment firm Endeavour Capital, which has offices throughout the Western United States.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan