Capitalism

Valencia Businesses Launch Petition Campaign Opposing Jack Spade

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

With Adobe Books packing up their 25-year-old 16th Street location, evicted financially by their landlord on behalf of Liz Claiborne's Jack Spade label, the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association is petitioning to keep the luxury men's store from moving into the location.

The organization is hoping to repeat the success of their outreach campaign against American Apparel, which successfully swayed the clothing manufacturer from opening on Valencia in 2009.

“American Apparel made the decision to abort their efforts to open up a retail store in the corridor [in response to community backlash],” Jefferson McCarley of Mission Bicycle told us. “We are hoping that when Jack Spade sees how strongly the community feels about this, they will also decide not to pursue this location here.”

Jack Spade's lease of 3166 16th Street reportedly begins on June 15th, but their opening date remains shrouded in secrecy.  As their move-in looms, the VCMA feels they have exhausted all other means to sway Jack Spade.  The company has refused to engage the local business community, declining through a media spokesman to meet with the organization and discuss alternative locations in the city.  Neighborhood Supervisors Wiener and Campos remain ambivalent towards the the store, and the Planning Department will not host a public meeting on the company, as it ruled the company does not meet the city's “formula retail” definition on a technicality that only 10 of their 13 locations are in the United States.

As Eileen Hassi of Ritual Roasters tells us:

Jack Spade is clearly formula retail by the SF Planning Department's definition, but unfortunately the way the law is written, it's not until AFTER the 11th [U.S.] location that a business is required to have a public hearing.  Without a public hearing, we have to find other means of getting the public's opinion and sharing it with the business and the Planning Department.  What better way than a petition?  It will show that it's a diverse cross-section of the population of the Mission, and of San Francisco, that is opposed to Jack Spade opening on the Valencia Corridor.

She adds:

I'm a fan of the [Planning Department's] hearing process.  I think it works.  I'm happy to say it worked with American Apparel, it worked with the Starbucks that just tried to go in to the Castro, on Market at Sanchez.  It's frustrating that Liz Claiborne/Jack Spade has figured out how to game the process.  It's no accident that this is their 11th US location.  I think the very fact that this multinational corporation figured out the loophole and exploited it should be a very clear message to the Planning Department that the ambiguity of the law should be corrected.

Many have received that message.  Following GANT's controversial opening in Hayes Valley, Supervisor London Breed proposed legislation that would count all worldwide locations when considering a chain's formula retail status.  However, that legislation only applies to Hayes Valley and would not affect Jack Spade.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose district includes the planned Jack Spade location, instead favors relaxing formula retail restrictions for the Mission District. Andres Power, legislative aide to the supervisor, has told VCMA members that Wiener would like to increase the allowable number of U.S. locations a store may have to 20.

Dema Grim from DEMA tells us that over 30 stores in the neighborhood are hanging posters promoting the petition in their windows.  At least 20 with host the petition on their sales counter.

The only public supporter the Liz Claiborne subsidiary has found is Phil Lesser of the Mission Merchants Association; however, Spade allegedly had to pay Lesser a hefty sum as a “permit expediter” to get his “blessing.”  The Mission Merchants Association is yet to take a position on the company, but their president, Casanova owner Don Alan, has reportedly told Jack Spade that “they would be unwelcome on the Valencia corridor” and “strongly suggested they look for alternate locations” in the city.

With so few legal options available to the VCMA, they hope that public opinion will convince Jack Spade to explore more commercial locations.

“I don't oppose Jack Spade,” Haley Lynn, manager of Five & Diamond, conceded. “I just oppose them moving into the Valencia Corridor.”

“The best part of San Francisco is all the different feelings in each neighborhood. Each neighborhood really identifies with a certain culture. That atmosphere is created by the merchants and residents in those areas. The Mission District is no exception: it is filled with so much rich, local flavor—people come here looking for a different vibe than they have experienced anywhere else. But if we have multi-national corporations like Jack Spade moving in to the Valencia Corridor, our neighborhood will lose its independent feeling.”

Mark Holcomb, a spokesman for Jack Spade, has not responded to our inquiries.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

The Rent Raiser Tank Top: The Breezy Cure of White Guilt (Allegedly)

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Is this a joke? An ingenious way to earn rent? The future of #swag? Either way, this acceptably-priced $80 tank top has quite the marketing pitch:

The rent is too high. You're too educated to ignore that you're part of the problem, but you're not about to move to Mountain View. Find solace in this high fashion accessory. Admit your Privilege, find release.

Given the photo looks like it was taken on some beat kitchen table, this is probably for real.  So why don't you email your credit card information to some unverified gmail address?  Coachella is only 11 months away…

Update: The folks behind Rent Raiser tell us the tanks are not American Apparel, but in fact “100% Vietnamese Sweatshop brand.”  Be advised.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Philz Coffee Raises $15-25m, Becomes a "Startup"

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Whenever I read about local coffeeshop news in TechCrunch, I generally expect the news to not be good.  But in Philz' case, it might not actually be so bad.

According to TechCrunch, Philz raised over 3.75 million cups of Tesora worth of money to expand the 13-shop operation outside the Bay Area:

Today, Philz Coffee is adding some growth capital of its own. Although the company isn’t ready to disclose the exact amount, [Phil] Jaber says that the company has raised an eight-figure round that’s on the lower end of the spectrum. From what we can gather from sources, it appears to be in the $15 to $25 million range. The lead investor in the round is Summit Partners, and as a result of the firm’s investment, Summit Managing Director Greg Goldfarb will be taking a seat on the startup’s board of directors.

It's been a helluva story for Phil and his emerging startup.  Founded 25 years ago as a modest corner store at 24th and Folsom, he spent decades perfecting his secret coffee blends. Then in 2003, after decades of limited growth in the corner store market, Phil pivoted the company launched Philz Coffee in the same location.  Philz soon brought on rockstar Silicon Valley CEO “his son”, opened over a dozen more stores, and cemented partnerships with Virgin America and Facebook, giving the small neighborhood coffee house the totally reasonable $40-70 million dollar valuation they have today.

Of course, one of the best features of Philz was never the coffee itself, but rather his shop felt like the kind of welcoming, worn-in den that only an old artist would open.  How they'll be able to replicate that freewheeling culture which they've become know for across hundreds of stores remains to be seen.

[Photo by Ed Schipul]

Adobe Books Unveils New 24th Street Location With Adobe Marketplace Pop-Up

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

With the Jack Spade-backed eviction of Adobe Books from their 16th Street store a done deal, the beloved used bookshop has signed the lease for a new spot on 24th and Shotwell.  While the new shop will not official open until July, they're exploring some new business models and giving us a sneak peak at their new digs this Saturday (2-7pm) with Adobe Marketplace:

Join us as we invite local artists and merchants to sell out of the brand new Adobe books. Browse the wares of your talented Bay Area comrades, and enjoy music, food & drinks. This Saturday afternoon event is sponsored by Rainbow Grocery and Speakeasy Ales and Lagers.

A few of our fabulous participants:
- Cool Try, clothing & accessories by artist Ryan De La Hoz
- Shirts by Amos
- The Bold Italic, products by SF locals- along with postcards, posters and other Bold Italic exclusives
- Most Ancient, limited edition books, experimental comics, and art in print form
- SCRAP, scrounger’s center for reusable art parts
- Jewelry by Sea Pony Couture
- Super Classy Publishing, small editions of handmade books
- Jewelry by While Odin Sleeps
- Yam Books, Oakland–based independent small-press publisher of art books, comics, graphic novels, and zines
- Tiny Splendor, publishing collective representing over 30 artists from around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, zines, artist books, prints & more
- Vintage by Annemarie
- Maren Salomon & Megan Hendry, drawings, prints, collages & embroideries
- Eunice, art boxes
- Adobe Books!

All bar proceeds and 10% of sales from the marketplace will be donated to help open the new Adobe Books.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Driving With Scissors Seems Like a Bad Idea But These Wheeler-Dealers Are Doing It Anyway

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Because everyone wants to have their bangs trimmed in a motor vehicle, San Francisco is filling up fast with truck-based businesses that cater to more than our stomachs.  That's right, foodless food trucks that instead sell flowers and haircuts are all the rage, according to a glowing profile of she-trucks in San Francisco Magazine:

Sarah LaShelle, owner of the Mission salon Pretty Parlor, and her partner Misty Briglia started taking their new beauty truck, which they dubbed Pretty Parlor a GoGo, to big tech companies such as Facebook and Google last fall, where they offer services to employees. “We’d been talking about how cool it would be to own a mobile salon and decided to give it a shot before somebody else did,” LaShelle said. “Once we made up our minds, we bought a truck on Craigslist the next day.” She and Briglia celebrated with tequila shots and coordinating tattoos. […]

“It’s definitely a labor of love,” LaShelle said of the undertaking. “The generator weighs a ton, and we have to take it and out to charge it after every trip.” Even finding a space to park the truck in the city has proved a challenge. Yet the duo has pressed on, traveling to music festivals and teaming up with wineries and neighborhood businesses for events where they offer makeup, spray tanning, waxing, and occasionally nail art and hair braiding. “We get a lot of attention as cute girls driving a big truck,” LaShelle said.

Is rolling retail here to stay or just the next passing fad we'll all be over in 18 months?  Either way, I'm pumped for the impending roll-out of the F.S.C. Barber Lifestyle Truck For Men.

[SF Magazine]

Esta Noche In Trouble

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Famed Latino queer bar (and all-around fantastic comedy venue) Esta Noche is in danger of closing.  As they put it, “Last year the Board of Supervisors made changes to laws that can make it harder for small businesses to afford their permitting and license fees. Unfortunately, Esta Noche will have to pay for all their licenses in one bulk payment, which is already one month late.”  Now they have two weeks to pay off a $9,000 debt to the city or they won't be able to stay open.

Taking a page from Adobe Books' fundraising success, the 16th Street club has an Indiegogo campaign up and running.  And on the 18th, “local queer DJs, drag performers, and politicians” will come together to party and fundraise for the venue.

Let's hope they pull it off, because the neighborhood probably doesn't need another Thieves bar…

[via Eater]

Live in a Van Down By Mission Street

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Because the San Francisco rental market is the fucking worst, one would-be mobile slumlord is hawking her sleeper van on Airbnb.

That's right, for just $520 a month (or $92 a night, if that's your sort of thing), you can call this cozy, street-level, rockin' one bedroom/personal Google shuttle your home.  Of course, there is no kitchen, closet, on-site parking, or place to crap (at least, legally)—and we're sure utilities will run a pretty penny—but it is only a third the cost of the city's immobile parking space-sized apartments.  So, you know, there's that.

Page describes her Stab City by the Bay home as such:

I have a 1990 Chevy Conversion van with only 45,000 miles. She runs great and has a cozy queen size van bed in the back and three captain's chairs, including the driver's. It has a clean record and gets pretty good gas mileage for a van.

The photos are verified by Airbnb.com, so you know the joke isn't on them, only us.

[Airbnb, via Reddit]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Chipotle's Roots in the Mission

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Everyone in San Francisco knows Chipotle is the worst.  They took the Mission Burrito, dumbed it down to a Mission-inspired burrito, and then made it acceptable to the flavor palette of New Englanders.  Now Chipotle's founder is richer than God, and credits his success to Colorado and his generous father.

This doesn't sit well with San Francisco's burrito lineage, who played an untold role in building the 11 billion dollar company.  Casey Deeha of the Bay Area Review of Burritos (a must read for anyone remotely interested in foil-wrapped tube food, by the way) caught up with El Faro's Hugo Ontiveros, the son of Mission-style burrito forefather Febronio Ontiveros, for some background on the matter:

If you navigate your way to the 'Chipotle Story' tab on their website, you'll find three sections: 'The Chipotle Story', 'Where Did We Come From', and 'Steve's Story'. Clicking on any one of them will reveal anything from neat little animations showing the beginnings of the chain to a piece of lined school paper on which Steve Ells writes a first hand account of his humble story - in courier type font no less. In all instances, Steve Ells and Chipotlesauraus begins in Colorado when Steve used an $85,000 investment from his father to convert a Madison ice cream parlour into a taqueria. And this is true - he did begin in Colorado. However, “beginnings” are never as straight forward as one thinks and Ells' pre-beginnings place him in San Francisco, where according to Hugo, he frequented the taquerias of the Mission while working as a line chef at Stars in the Civic Center shortly after attending the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Hugo went on to explain that there is no doubt that Ells often visited the taquerias of the Mission, including  El Faro, to not only enjoy the burritos, but also to “study” the methods says Ontiveros.  Hugo, of course, is not alone in making this suggestion. David A. Kaplan from CNN writes, “Ells loved the little taquerías in the Mission District and decided to open one back in Colorado, where he'd grown up.” Ells himself, in an interview with Jessica Shambora with CNN Money, stated:

“One day, while sitting in a taqueria called Zona Rosa close to my house, I watched how the line crew took care of people in very short order. I took out a napkin and jotted down what I thought the average check was and how many people were going through the line, and I timed it. I thought, Wow, this thing makes a lot of money — it could be a little cash cow that could fund my real restaurant. My dad gave me $85,000 — part loan, part equity. I packed up within a couple of weeks and drove back to Colorado. It was the summer of 1992. The first Chipotle opened in Denver on July 13, 1993.”

While Zona Rosa, as we all know, is on Haight St. and not the Mission, Ontiveros goes on to say that Ells frequented many taquerias in the Mission with the same purpose in mind. Ontiveros goes on to point out that, 'there was no competition in Colorado' as far as quality taquerias were concerned, which propelled Chipotle to quickly gain the revenue to attract investors such as McDonalds and then rule the mexican fast food chain world.

The resentment doesn't stem from Ells' lifting of El Faro's “classic” burrito-building methodology, according to Deeha.  Instead, the absence of any mention of the Mission in 'Chipotle's Story' is what really bothers Ontiveros.

Meanwhile, on Cinco de Mayo, Chipotle was found on Market Street in the Castro, “bribing” passersby with brownbags of chips and guacamole in exchange for signing a petition in support of bringing the restaurant even closer to its ancestral home.

[BARB, and also check out their review of the Chipotle on Lakeshore Ave. in Oakland]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Detestable New Apartment Complex Now Open For Community Criticism

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Ever since the artisanally-located 299 Valencia sold out, I've been in the market for a new development to scowl at.

NeMa looked promising, with all their egregious and dated hipster appropriation, but their Mid-Market address was far too downtown for my decidedly tony Mission palette.  And there was whateverthefuckthey'rebuilding on the corner of 19th and Valencia, which will assuredly charge 650,000+ dollars (also payable in not-Zygna stock options) for a doghouse-sized studio, but, alas, it's hard to roll my eyes out of their sockets over a building still in the plywood phase.

However, I think I found my dream pariah: Vara, the soon-to-be-launched Mactastic crash pad at 15th and Mission, with studio apartments going for The Totally Not Dogshit rate of $2675/month.  Curbed SF has all the alluring details:

The wave of gentrification continues in the Mission. Vara, a 202-unit apartment complex with 40 below market rate units, readies to hit the market. The location at the corner of 15th and Mission streets is close to BART and several Muni lines, as well as the very popular Valencia Street. The studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units will feature gourmet kitchens, in-unit washer/dryers, free Wi-Fi and walk-in closets. Building amenities include on-site carsharing, fitness center, and a clubhouse. Cats and dogs are also welcome, although breed restrictions apply. The units will start at $2675 for a studio, and up to $4830 for a 3 bedroom.

Curbed rhetorically asks, “Will this new rental building in the Mission face scrutiny?”  With reclaimed wood, the aforementioned Totally Not Dogshit rents, and wall art celebrating the basement's “Internet Ready Worker's Union” (which, ugh), we in turn answer, “Sure?”

[Curbed]

17 Reasons Building Poised for Demolition and Condos, Tenants Fear

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Update: This story has been partially retracted.

Following on the heels of the hostile eviction of Adobe Books on 16th Street comes news that the tenants of the 17 Reasons Building is facing a very similar fate.

According to a flyer being circulated anonymously by occupants, the building housing Thrift Town and many other businesses and non-profits at the corner of 17th and Mission has been purchased by Asher Insights—a company whose owners have a track record for razing buildings and constructing high-priced condos in their place.

The flyer alleges a bunch of foul behavior on the part of the new owners, including a “hostile an aggressive visit” from Asher Insights' managing partner Rick Holman (a former Bank of America executive), changing the building's locks without notice, and shutting down Thrift Town's loading dock for a site assessment:

Tenants we spoke to would only do so on condition of anonymity, fearing further harassment for the landlords.  However, one occupant described the “aggressive visit” by Holman as “scary,” noting he paraded around, yelling out leaseholder's names in an attempt to locate them, and rattling off concerns with the building's integrity.

Following Holman's “hostile” visit, he allegedly then fired the property's maintenance staff and changed the locks to the building's gates, causing employees for the businesses inside the premises to not be able to go to work.  We're told he still hasn't provided tenants with new sets of keys.

And to make matters worse, at least one business received a notice earlier this week that Asher Insights filed paperwork to have them evicted.

In The Works, an art and activist collective in the building (which also happens to be responsible for the “Google Bus Pinata” Anti-Gentrification Block Party), described the situation in a mass email:

On Monday, April 8th, Rick Holman paid a hostile visit to ITW, demanding to meet with the lease-holding collective members and an inspection of the premises. Rick Holman and his architect wife Toby Levy play a part of the gentry leading the gentrification of the Mission District by pushing out low-income families and community-oriented people. Rick Holman is currently collecting soil samples from 60 feet under the building, indicating that he is interested in building a parking garage for a new condo development.

One occupant stressed how important the building is to the local economy, “there are dozens of [Mission] jobs at risk here. There's two textile manufacturing shops, art studios, Thrift Town, the fabric store… Headline Shirts… we cannot afford to lose this place.”

The Homeless Children's Network also maintain's their offices in the building. Perhaps ironically, they too might lose their home in the Mission.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

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