New limits on chain stores on Fillmore proposed

Posted on August 29, 2013 by editors
Graffiti at Fillmore and California, where fashion may replace Royal Ground coffee shop.

Graffiti at Fillmore and California, where fashion may replace a laundromat.

AS FILLMORE STREET continues to rapidly remake itself into a mecca for fashion labels from around the world, supplanting basic neighborhood services, legislation has been introduced at City Hall that would subject more businesses to the city’s limits on chain stores.

Under the existing “formula retail” ordinance — enacted by the voters in 2008 to limit the proliferation of chain stores in the city’s neighborhoods — businesses must obtain a conditional use permit to open on upper Fillmore if they have 11 or more stores in the U.S.

New legislation introduced by District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell would amend the ordinance to include stores located not only in the U.S., but anywhere in the world. That would affect companies that have numerous stores in other countries, but are just beginning to establish a presence in the U.S.

“After hearing from both our merchants and neighbors in the Upper Fillmore about concerns that large retailers were pushing out our smaller and unique ‘mom and pop’ type of stores,” Farrell said, “I introduced legislation to expand the definition of formula retail.”

The legislation would also extend the law to include new businesses started by formula retail companies, whether or not they currently have 11 or more stores. This has been an approach favored by companies such as the Gap, which opened Athleta on Fillmore, and Starbucks, which opened Evolution Fresh.

Farrell’s proposal would apply only to the Upper Fillmore Neighborhood Commercial District, which extends from Bush to Jackson streets.

Similar efforts have been launched in other neighborhoods, including nearby Hayes Street. In response, the Planning Department has resisted neighborhood-specific legislation and instead proposed that the proposals be delayed while a study is conducted to develop uniform rules.

Farrell’s legislative assistant Catherine Stefani said her office would press forward with the legislation despite the Planning Department’s move for a citywide law.

“We have told Planning that we plan to proceed with the legislation despite the study because we felt that it was urgent to do so,” Stefani said.

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Dental school gives way to housing

Posted on July 15, 2013 by editors
The dental school's surface parking lot may become home to 11 townhouses.

The dental school’s surface parking lot may become home to 11 townhouses.

BY THE TIME it moves downtown next year, the University of the Pacific’s dental school will have made room for a lot of attractive — and expensive — new housing in the neighborhood.

Trumark Urban has now bought the dental school’s longtime home at 2155 Webster Street, at the corner of Sacramento, and will convert it into 77 high-end condominium residences averaging 2,000 square feet. Two top-floor 4,000-square-foot penthouses will have views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A COMMUNITY MEETING will be held on Wednesday, July 17, to discuss the plans for the dental school. Trumark is hosting a pre-application meeting required by the city’s Planning Department at 6:30 p.m. in Bart Hall at Congregation Sherith Israel, the synagogue located at 2266 California Street.

Already Prado Group has converted the school’s former dormitory building at 2130 Post Street into 71 deluxe rental apartments. Leasing began in early June, and more than half of the apartments have been leased in the first few weeks, said manager Meg Russell. Already 23 apartments are occupied. Of the apartments that remain available, monthly rentals range from $3,195 for a one-bedroom, one-bath unit up to $4,695 for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit.

Adaptation of the dental school’s home at Webster and Sacramento will require the developer to build larger units because of the unusually deep floor plan. About 80 percent of the units will be two-bedroom or larger.

In addition, Trumark plans to build 11 townhouses on the parking lot behind the building spanning from Sacramento to Clay Street.

Daniel Cressman, the broker who helped the university buy its new home on Fifth Street and sell its neighborhood buildings, called the dental school building a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to “create a world-class condominium development in San Francisco’s most prestigious neighborhood, rivaling high-end condo projects in New York and London.”

Biz Times: Dental school netted more than expected

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City tightens chain store limits

Posted on May 31, 2013 by editors
One of Athleta's first stores opened on Fillmore in 2011. Now there are 41.

One of Athleta’s first stores opened on Fillmore. Now there are 41.

SIGNALING IT WILL be harder for chain stores to open on Fillmore Street in the future, the city’s Board of Appeals on May 15 revoked the building permit secured by German-based clothing company Oska for the space at 2130 Fillmore, where it had intended to open a new boutique.

Now that Oska has been adjudged a chain store subject to the city’s formula retail ordinance, it cannot open without going through a conditional use hearing to determine whether it is appropriate in a neighborhood already home to many chain stores and women’s clothing shops.

The formula retail ordinance requires conditional use approval before companies with 11 or more retail establishments in the U.S. can open in many San Francisco neighborhoods, including upper Fillmore Street.

The board found that Oska has nine stores currently operating in the U.S., as well as leases for two additional stores — in Healdsburg and in Evanston, Illinois — bringing its total to 11 retail establishments within the meaning of the law.

“Savvy chain store operators are intentionally opening locations in the district prior to exceeding the 11-store cap in order to avoid application of the formula retail controls,” the board stated in its written preliminary findings issued a week after the hearing. “The existing concentration of formula retail uses is having a negative impact on the character of the neighborhood.”

(more…)

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Fillmore’s new micro-boutique

Posted on May 31, 2013 by editors
Liz Fanlo's beauty boutique now occupies the tiniest storefront on Fillmore.

Liz Fanlo’s beauty boutique now occupies the tiniest storefront on Fillmore.

NEW NEIGHBOR | Liz Fanlo

Hair and makeup specialist Liz Fanlo lives near Fillmore and already knew she loved the neighborhood. So when she decided to open a beauty boutique, she persuaded a friend to rent her the tiniest storefront on the street at 2335 Fillmore.

“Isn’t it cute?” she beams. “It’s tiny — 50 square feet, maybe less. But beauty products are small. That’s the advantage.”

It’s a one-seater, but then most of her work is done on location at weddings or events. She wanted a storefront to offer her preferred beauty products and tools and also to teach others her notable skills.

Her first window display features a new kind of hair extensions that don’t harm the hair. “People love ’em,” she says. She’ll change the display every month to feature “my favorite beauty product I’m currently obsessing over.”

“The other shops on the street are ones I want to be associated with,” she says. “It’s not too high-end. It’s a nice mix.”

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From Russia with a love of jewelry

Posted on May 31, 2013 by editors
Elite Fine Jewelry is now open at 2480 Sacramento Street, near Fillmore.

Elite Fine Jewelry is now open at 2480 Sacramento Street, near Fillmore.

NEW NEIGHBOR | ELITE FINE JEWELRY

A dream of a new jewelry store is now open in the neighborhood. But it began as a nightmare.

Jeweler Simon Khurin and his family lived only 80 miles from Chernobyl when the Russian nuclear reactor imploded in 1986, spewing radiation across the landscape and forcing the relocation of all who lived in the area.

“I thought after one year the radiation would be over and we could come back,” he says. But when it became clear it would be decades, at least, before he could go home again, he made the decision to move his wife, his child and his parents to the United States and start over.

They had friends in San Francisco, so they came here. Khurin had little money and spoke even less English, so he worked as a laborer as he sought ways to rebuild his career as a jeweler.

“It’s hard to start all over,” he says. “But little by little I started working for myself, repairing and manufacturing jewelry.”

He rented a small space on a desolate stretch of Fillmore Street in the mid-1990s, long before new life stirred in the jazz district, eventually moving up to a spot on Fillmore near Post, where he opened Elite Jewelry. It lasted a few years, but then his storefront and several others were consolidated to create an expansive new home for Goodwill. His talent and drive had become evident, however, and with a partner he had established a growing jewelry design and manufacturing business in San Carlos.

Still, he had fallen in love with the neighborhood, and he was determined to have his own jewelry store here.

“It was my dream — my crazy dream,” he says. “I understood I couldn’t afford it, but I wanted to own something.”

One day he saw a “for sale” sign on a pint-sized building on Sacramento Street, just around the corner from Fillmore.

“I thought, ‘Yes!’” and with a partner found a way to buy it, becoming the landlord of the Toujours lingerie shop and Soaps hair salon, plus a residential unit upstairs.

Finally, last year, he decided to take the plunge and open the jewelry store of his dreams.

“I was ready,” he says. And in early May, Elite Fine Jewelry opened its doors at 2480 Sacramento.

The custom showcases made of a forest of lacquered birds-eye maple gleam with gold and platinum and jewels of all kinds, cuts and colors.

“Diamonds, of course — and pearls,” Khurin says. “I love pearls.” He enthusiastically leads a visitor toward the window display. “Can you believe this? Gold pearls! I’m crazy about pearls.”

There’s a shimmering pair of emerald tear-drop earrings. “It’s one,” he says. “We just made one pair.” And yellow diamonds, and a matching antique yellow topaz brooch and pendant. Most unusual is a natural amber necklace, still rough and looking as if it was just separated from the earth.

Elite Fine Jewelry offers a full range of jewelry repair and design, plus watchmaking services and repairs.

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Board of Appeals says Oska is a chain

Posted on May 15, 2013 by editors

AT ITS REGULAR monthly meeting tonight, the Board of Appeals ruled that Oska, the German clothing line, is a chain store and must comply with the city’s formula retail ordinance before it can proceed with plans to open at 2130 Fillmore Street, formerly the home of Jet Mail.

EARLIER: Oska stirs chain store fight on Fillmore

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Oska stirs chain store fight on Fillmore

Posted on March 3, 2013 by editors

Photograph at Fillmore and California by Dickie Spritzer

By Barbara Kate Repa

SPURRED BY CONCERNS that the local shopping district is losing its charm and uniqueness as corporate labels gobble up real estate on Fillmore Street, some business owners are now attempting to block a newcomer — Oska, a German-based clothing company — from moving into the neighborhood.

The charge is being led by Miyo Ota, owner of Mio, the women’s boutique at 2035 Fillmore. She has filed an appeal of a building permit issued earlier to refurbish the space at 2130 Fillmore just left vacant by Jet Mail, where Oska intends to open a boutique. The action suspends the permit until the San Francisco Board of Appeals hears testimony on the issue at City Hall on March 20.

UPDATE: At its March 20 hearing, the Board of Appeals allowed the landlord’s permit to make upgrades to the building’s foundation to go forward. A second permit allowing Oska to build out the interior, which was also challenged, will be heard by the board on May 15.

FURTHER UPDATE: At its May 15 meeting, the Board of Appeals ruled 4-1 that Oska is a chain store and must go through the city’s conditional use process before it can open on Fillmore Street.

Ota’s resolve to act against the retailer, which boasts more than 50 stores around the world, was stoked while on a recent buying trip to Paris, where she was strolling through the formerly quaint Marais district. “I was shocked at what I saw there — it feels like Soho on weekends,” she says. “Now there are the same old chains there you see everywhere.”
(more…)

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Two retail pros open their own shop

Posted on March 3, 2013 by editors

Photographs of Hudson Grace at 3350 Sacramento Street by Matthew Millman

SACRAMENTO STREET’S collection of antique shops, interior designers and home accessory stores got a boost — in offerings and experience — when Hudson Grace opened at 3350 Sacramento a few weeks ago.

The new store is the brainchild of Monelle Totah and Gary McNatton, who helped build Williams-Sonoma, Banana Republic, the Gap and Restoration Hardware into international juggernauts.

“But I’ve always wanted to have my own store,” says Totah. “Gary, too.”

So instead of working on corporate stores around the globe, they decided to focus on just one: their own. And they wanted their “shared dream” to be on Sacramento Street. They named the store after their dogs, Hudson and Grace.
(more…)

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Mimi’s great sorority

Posted on August 2, 2012 by editors

Photograph of Mimi Lawrence by M. Christine Torrington

By Marjorie Leet Ford

MIMI LAWRENCE ALWAYS wanted to have her own store.

“I started in retail when I was six,” she says, recalling her childhood in New Jersey. “I loaded an ice chest of soda pop into a little rowboat with a one-and-a-half horsepower motor, like an eggbeater, and rode around the harbor selling pop to people in sailboats.”

Years later, she worked for Lord & Taylor in New York, then for Joseph Magnin in San Francisco. She especially loved J. Magnin because it bravely broke the rules.

“At that time the only lingerie you could get was black, white or cream,” Lawrence says. “Suddenly a runway show had shortie nightgowns in orange, green, and purple. People were shocked!”

Twenty-six years ago, she opened her dream store — Mimi’s, on Union Street near Fillmore. To stock it, she says, she searched far and wide to find fashions that were comfortable and practical, great for travel — and “a little adventurous.”
(more…)

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Now there’s a Fillmore app

Posted on July 9, 2012 by editors

FOR MORE than a decade, Fillmore merchants have provided a lively illustrated folding map of the shops, entertainment and dining opportunities in the neighborhood. The map, which is updated regularly, helps locals and visitors alike navigate the thriving local business community.

With more than 200 businesses in the neighborhood, there are constant closures, openings and remodels — and lots of special events — it was the launching pad for an interactive app that provides up-to-the-minute notification of news and shopping events generated by neighborhood merchants.

So now there’s an iPhone app for Fillmore Street — one of the first neighborhood apps. You can download the free Fillmore app at the iTunes store or at the neighborhood’s Facebook page.

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