Bi-Rite Market Signs Lease for Historic Outer Richmond California Street Site

Bi-Rite Market has signed a lease at 6001 California St. in the Outer Richmond, the corner storefront at California and 22nd Avenue that housed 6001 California Market until its closure two years ago. If the deal clears its remaining hurdles, the Mission-born grocery chain is targeting a 2027 opening at what would become its fourth San Francisco location.

Co-CEO Patrick Mills confirmed the company "has engaged in a lease" while working through outstanding contingencies, and said in an emailed statement, "If everything goes as planned, we're targeting an opening in 2027." Permit filings submitted to the city's planning department show roughly $380,000 in approved upgrades for new toilets and improved accessibility, suggesting early construction work will center on those improvements before any broader buildout begins.

The space offers 3,481 square feet on the main floor, with a 3,375-square-foot basement and a 645-square-foot mezzanine. That basement capacity should ease the storage constraints Bi-Rite has managed at its other locations partly by leasing nearby garages. The building's most distinctive feature predates all of its recent tenants: a red-and-white Appel & Dietrich Fine Food Market neon sign, a relic from the first grocery to occupy the corner in the 1950s, still hangs on the storefront.

The California Street site puts Bi-Rite in a well-established food corridor. Pearl 6101 and Pizzetta 211 share the block, with Violet's, Fiorella, and Angelina's Deli Cafe nearby. Rumors had been circulating among neighboring businesses for weeks before the lease was reported, and a new tenant sign appeared in the storefront window.

The Outer Richmond location would mark the chain's first store on the west side of the city. Bi-Rite opened its Divisadero location in early 2013 and added its largest store, a 4,000-square-foot space on Polk Street in the former Real Food Co. building, in August 2024. Founding partner Sam Mogannam has said the company plans to open two to three more Bay Area markets before 2030.

The expansion lands against a shifting San Francisco grocery landscape. The city's largest Whole Foods and the Fillmore Safeway both closed in 2025, while homegrown chains including Bi-Rite, Luke's Local, and Gus's Community Market have each added locations over the past three years. Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market has also announced plans for its first San Francisco outpost in SoMa, though that opening remains several years out.

With contingencies still unresolved and permits in early stages, 2027 remains a best-case scenario for the California Street store.