Kiehl’s has been in business at the corner of Fillmore and Washington for a decade.
In a certain sign that the center of gravity on Fillmore continues to shift southward, Kiehl’s plans to move its body products store from 2360 Fillmore to 1971 Fillmore, at the intersection with Pine Street.
“Our lease is up and we’re looking for a new home,” said store manager Cris Thorngate. “It’s time for us to be more exposed. This is a quieter end of the street.”
Kiehl’s will replace the Shu Uemura cosmetics boutique — owned, as is Kiehl’s, by L’Oreal. Shu Uemura closed last spring and the space has sat empty since. Kiehl’s will move some of its furnishings and company memorabilia and restore the Victorian character of the building on the corner of Pine and Fillmore, Thorngate said.
When Kiehl’s opened a decade ago at Fillmore and Washington, it meticulously restored the longtime home of Belmont Florist, including its distinctive neon sign.
“We’d take that sign with us if we could,” said Thorngate. “A lot of our fixtures will move to the new location, and it will have wooden floors and custom cabinets. We’re basically replicating what this store looks like.”
The Fillmore store was the first after the original Kiehl’s in New York, which opened in 1851. In the last decade, the company has opened 34 more. That makes it a formula retail store under San Francisco’s chain store ordinance, and required a public neighborhood meeting, which was held November 29 at Kiehl’s.
“This was the first store,” said Kiehl’s vice president Robert Imig, who flew out from New York with the company’s director of retail sales. “This is our West Coast flagship.”
Leaders of the residents and merchants associations voiced no objection to the move and praised Kiehl’s as an asset to the street and a good neighbor actively involved in the neighborhood. They urged the company to do more.
“We need your expertise,” said Joan O’Connor, a board member of the Fillmore Merchants Association. “We need a better model of how larger corporate stores coming to the street can participate and help strengthen the neighborhood.” She emphasized the unique character of the neighborhood. “People love this community because of the bookstore and the hardware store and the movie theater,” she said. “Yet every year it gets chipped away.”
“We want Fillmore Street to be vibrant and profitable,” said Greg Scott, president of the Pacific Heights Residents Association. “We also want a diversity of services and we don’t want the neighborhood-serving businesses to be priced out.”
Thorngate, Kiehl’s manager for the past three years, pointed out that she both lives and works in the neighborhood. “I live across the street,” she said. “I’m 47 steps from this store. I’m passionate about this end of the street. Now I’m gonna be passionate from Pine down.”
Kiehl’s hopes to move by March.
UPDATE: On January 13, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the relocation of Kiehl’s to Fillmore and Pine.
Filed under: Retail Report