Kiehl’s plans a move down the street

Posted on December 2, 2010 by editors

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.”
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Fillmore uneasy about new stores

Posted on November 27, 2010 by editors

Many people would be thrilled to have internationally known retailers set up shop on their streets, but prominent new neighbors have made some Fillmore residents uneasy, according to a report in California Apparel News.

Independent boutique owners and their staffs in the upscale neighborhood fear their days are numbered. “In 15 years, this street will be a mall,” said Eddie Izzo, buyer for the Metro 200 boutique, located at 2116 Fillmore Street. “Small stores won’t be able to make it here with the high rents.”

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James Perse comes to Fillmore

Posted on October 10, 2010 by editors

10/10/10 brought Fillmore’s newest boutique to the street: Los Angeles designer James Perse opened shortly before noon in the long-vacant space at 2028 Fillmore. Shortly after noon, the locals were already streaming in to check out what the company calls its “seamless blend of luxe and casual.”

Perse offers clothing for both men and women almost entirely in black, gray and white, plus indoor and outdoor furniture and a few other essentials including surfboards, a bike and a trike. Perse describes his design philosophy as “low maintenance high fashion — emphasizing elegance and comfort, pairing sophistication with simplicity.”

It’s the designer’s second store in San Francisco — he opened near Union Square last fall — and part of a growing group of about a dozen free-standing boutiques in Southern California, Las Vegas, Aspen and New York.

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Turning letters into treasures

Posted on October 4, 2010 by editors

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By Tessa Williams

“Serendipity,” reads an assemblage of vintage letters affixed to a wall at Timeless Treasures, Joan O’Connor’s antiques store on Sutter Street near Pierce. “Bananas,” reads another. “Slow down,” a third.

An establishment that celebrates the relationship between words and objects, Timeless Treasures specializes in vintage letters, available in a vast range of sizes, types and materials. In addition to offering the groupings for sale, O’Connor prompts customers to create their own combinations that become personal works of art.

“Words are just so powerful,” she says. “They can make us feel anything. And the color and variety of materials and sizes we put in the words adds an extra dimension.”
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Chase looking for a local home

Posted on September 28, 2010 by editors

Chase hopes to take over the former Esrik Cleaners space.

Chase — formerly Chase Manhattan Bank and now the consumer banking unit of JP Morgan Chase — hopes to open a new branch bank at 2429 California Street.

At a neighborhood meeting on September 27, representatives of the bank presented plans for a banking office fronted by a secure ATM lobby next door to Mollie Stone’s in the longtime home of Esrik Cleaners. The cleaners closed last year and the building has since been expanded and renovated into two storefronts.
(more…)

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‘You gotta carry a gun’

Posted on September 26, 2010 by editors

So Ruth Dewson was told when she opened Mrs. Dewson’s Hats on Fillmore Street. For decades she has been the unofficial mayor of Fillmore Street. But she has been missing from the neighborhood in recent months, sidelined by ill health. We caught up with her at her shop and found her spirit strong and her health improving.

EARLIER: “A force of nature“

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A salon meant to be

Posted on August 31, 2010 by editors

The salon is a dream come true for local resident Yuni Cho.

NEW NEIGHBOR | Yuni Salon

A bright orange awning at 2434 California Street heralds the arrival of Salon Yuni. Owned by local resident Yuni Cho, the salon manages to be both homey and starkly modern, with a mostly white interior accented by fuchsia touches and eight orange client chairs.

Cho says the decision to open the new salon was spurred by an unwelcome intruder. “I had breast cancer last year,” she says, “and it changed my life to a different view.” With chemo and radiation now behind her, Cho sports a jaunty wig and surveys her new digs with pride. She worked at the Lotte salon on Fillmore for seven years and at a number of other neighborhood salons before opening her own.

“It was really meant to be,” she says of her new salon, which is just a half-block from her home. In search of a health club, Cho wandered into Fit-Lite — the previous tenant — and learned it was closing in two weeks. “The spot was a little big — and that scared me. But every time I passed by, it called out to me,” says Cho. “I always dreamed I’d have my own salon in Pacific Heights. But I never thought I could be so close to home.”

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Athleta store gets go-ahead

Posted on August 1, 2010 by editors

Athleta, the women’s athletic apparel brand that is now part of the Gap’s corporate family, is moving forward with plans to open a retail store at 2226 Fillmore Street, the longtime home of the Junior League’s Next-to-New resale shop.

The city’s board of appeals has rejected a request to review whether Athleta should be considered a chain store under the city’s formula retail ordinance. Zoning administrator Lawrence Badiner earlier determined that Athleta is not part of a chain, even though it is owned by the Gap. But only the Gap’s attorneys were notified of the ruling, since no address for the Athleta store was given. By the time neighborhood residents and merchants learned of the Gap’s plans to open an Athleta store on Fillmore, the time for filing an appeal had expired.
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Cookie lovers in the jazz district

Posted on July 31, 2010 by editors

Mother and daughter: Sheila Harris-Young and Toni Young own Bumzy’s.

By TESSA WILLIAMS

Now that Bumzy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies is finally open on Fillmore near O’Farrell, the neighborhood will get to sample a recipe that’s been baked and savored by three generations of cookie lovers.

Sheila Harris-Young’s mother taught her to bake when she was growing up in Washington, D.C., and she remembers first making cookies for an orphanage her Girl Scout troop would visit. When she became a mother herself, she passed the cookie recipe and her baking talents on to her daughter, Toni Young, whose childhood nickname was Bumzy. Four years ago, after decades of feeding their family and friends, they began selling their cookies online. They’ve made an enterprise out of baking — bound by family ties and service to the community.
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These boots are beauts

Posted on July 1, 2010 by editors

FILLMORE JAZZ FESTIVAL | July 3 & 4

A decade ago, the artist Ken Auster became enamored of some artistic cowboy boot sculptures. He didn’t buy them, but they stayed on his mind — ones that got away.

Then about a year ago, Auster was stunned to see what he thought were the same boot sculptures. “As I approached, I realized these were the real thing — real boots, as beautiful as the ones I’d seen before, but you could actually wear them,” he says.

The boots are handcrafted of intricately embroidered velvet in Uzbekistan, done in tribal designs indigenous to the region. No two pair are alike: some are bright florals on black, some muted and spare, some a classy tone on tone. Heels and toes vary, too — including cowboy boots and Cuban styles with heels, plus a flat version with gypsy heel and round toe.

Smitten all over again, Auster and his wife Paulette bought more than the boots. They became the collection’s first major distributor in the United States. In “The Art of the Boot,” they will offer them in San Francisco for the first time on July 3 and 4 at the Fillmore Jazz Festival.

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