Bi-Rite Market eyes expansion in popular San Francisco neighborhood |
FILE: Bi-Rite Market plans to expand to San Francisco’s Richmond District, according to city planning records. Pictured is the mini-chain’s Mission District store.
San Francisco gourmet grocery chain Bi-Rite Market is eyeing a popular neighborhood for expansion, according to city planning records.
Permit applications submitted to San Francisco’s planning department last month reveal that Bi-Rite intends to take over the former home of 6001 California Market at California Street and 22nd Avenue in the Richmond District. The forthcoming grocery store would join a roster of restaurants in the bustling neighborhood, including Pearl 6101, Fiorella and Lokma.
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Patrick Mills, co-CEO of Bi-Rite, confirmed to SFGATE that Bi-Rite has engaged in a lease at 6001 California St. but added that nothing has been finalized at this time while the company reviews “contingencies” that “need to be resolved.” Planning records show approved permits for upgrades ranging from additional toilets to improved accessibility features totaling $380,000.
“If everything goes as planned, we’re targeting an opening in 2027,” Mills said in an emailed statement to SFGATE.
The property at 6001 California St., listed by Maven, features 3,481 square feet on the ground floor and an additional 645 square feet on the mezzanine level. The historic building also has a vintage neon sign of the former Appel & Dietrich Fine Food Market that once operated on-site.
Bi-Rite opened its first San Francisco market in the Mission District in 1940, under the ownership of brothers Joe and Bill Cordano. In 1964, the market sold to brothers Jack and Ned Mogannam, who transformed Bi-Rite into a “reliable, friendly neighborhood corner store,” according to the business website. Under the wing of the Mogannam family, Bi-Rite eventually remodeled the grocery store in 1998 to include a kitchen in the center of the store that offered high-quality meals.
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Once open, the Richmond District site will bring the small grocery chain’s total count to four locations. In 2024, Bi-Rite opened its latest store location in the Polk Gulch neighborhood.
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