An Asian supermarket chain out of Canada will be taking over the long vacant former Best Buy space in San Francisco's City Center complex, years after Whole Foods was supposed to be moving in.
T&T Supermarket, which has three dozen locations across Canada, is Canada's largest Asian grocery chain, and has recently been expanding into Washington State and the Bay Area. Tariffs be damned, T&T has plans to open its first location here at San Jose's Westgate Center this fall, with the San Francisco location planned for Winter 2026.
Eater broke the news about the new store at 2675 Geary Boulevard, in SF's Anza Vista neighborhood. The former Best Buy space in the upper part of the City Center plaza has sat empty for eight years now, all while Target has continued to operate next door. Last June, SFist reported that approved plans for a Whole Foods location here were in limbo and possibly dead — and this news came after the April 2023 closure of the Whole Foods at Eighth and Market streets, which still could possibly reopen at a later date.
As SFist noted earlier, this retail complex could use some injection of new energy, having been the graveyard of chains like Best Buy, Mervyn's, Sears, and Toy 'R' Us.
When it opens, in addition to produce, groceries and a whole lot of packaged ramen, this 50,000-square-foot T&T Supermarket will offer prepared items like soup dumplings, green onion pancakes, sushi, barbecue items, and desserts — with T&T Bakery known for its breads and Asian pastries.
T&T would be part of the ongoing trend of Asian mega-marts opening in and around SF, including H Mart and the just-opened Jagalchi in Daly City, which debuted Friday to long lines.
"San Francisco is on the rise, and we’re excited to be part of its next chapter,” says T&T CEO Tina Lee in a statement.
The chain is named for Tina and her sister Tiffany, in addition to bearing the initials of two early investors, and it was founded in the Vancouver area by their mother Cindy Lee and father Jack in 1993. Tina Lee posted a video over the weekend in which she and her husband toured the empty former Best Buy space — and she wasn't super happy about all the columns.
T&T's first-ever US location opened in early December 2024 in Bellevue, Washington.
Mayor Daniel Lurie touted the coming of T&T in an Instagram video Tuesday, calling it "a big win for our city."
"I have friends texting me about this grocery store," Lurie said. "They have incredible food."
Photo courtesy of T&T Supermarket
