News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
WHATEVER THEIR FUTURE plans or potential, the buildings on the 2200 block of Fillmore Street acquired with funds from investor Neil Mehta have already brought back one piece of Fillmore’s recent past: boarded-up empty storefronts. • SOME EXISTING BUSINESSES on Fillmore Street have gates, especially those with recessed doorways. More have been added recently, both…
THE STARBUCKS at 2222 Fillmore Street is set to close its doors on December 1, leaving loyal customers and locals shocked and disappointed. Annabelle Cimino, the store’s shift manager, has worked at the Fillmore location since 2017. Known for her personal touch, Cimino greets regulars by name and even hand-decorates their takeaway bags. The…
AFTER 60 YEARS of ownership by the Politz family, D&M Wine and Liquor at 2200 Fillmore has been sold to former manager Kyle Nadeau and his partners. “It’s been a long time coming,” says Mike Politz, who has worked in the store, with a few interruptions, since he had to stand on a milk crate…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA Come to Fillmore Street this Memorial Day weekend for the food, stay for the sales. Among the promotions: Get “tagged” at Clare V, which is offering on-site monogram services for their bags, or buy a leather tag and get a complimentary monogram. And Rag and Bone will be serving canned…
By CYNTHIA TRAINA After more than four decades on Sacramento Street, luxury home goods retailer Sue Fisher King is moving her store to 1913 Fillmore Street. She will take over the storefront just south of Florio restaurant recently vacated by the wellness brand Saje. Rather than retire, she is looking forward to a new chapter. …
By CHRIS BARNETT The space long occupied by Repeat Performance — the San Francisco Symphony resale shop at 2436 Fillmore — has sprung back to life as Warren Estate Sales, with novel pop-up offerings twice monthly in the back of the shop designed to keep the merchandise moving. “It’s simply the best resale shop I…
FILLMORE BEAT | CHRIS BARNETT Slammed shut and lifeless for well over two years, the large space housing the once popular Grove cafe and hangout at 2016 Fillmore is stirring again, but the new venture’s backers stubbornly refuse to disclose anything about it. “I can’t say, I can’t say, I can’t say,” insisted a bearded guy…
By CHRIS BARNETT After nearly three decades of involvement with the Fillmore Merchants Association — as board member, vice president, president and the last five years as executive director — Vasilios Kiniris, the personable man-in-perpetual-motion known to some as Mr. Fillmore and to all as Vas, is exiting stage left. For most of that time,…
CRIME WATCH SOME PEOPLE took a holiday over the Labor Day weekend, but not the thieves who have been plaguing Fillmore Street merchants. At least six businesses — Ruti, Post Script, Velvet, Heidi Says, Aesop and the UPS Store — were attacked over the long weekend, some suffering loss of merchandise, and all rushing to…
FILLMORE BEAT | CHRIS BARNETT Empty stores, boarded-up windows, people sleeping in abandoned doorways, shoplifting and break-ins all testify that Fillmore Street is going though hard times one year after Covid hit with full fury. But conversations with die-hard merchants and a reopening for some indoor dining signals an eventual turnaround in the fortunes of…