Here's a feel-good story that also happens to be a quiet lesson in how things are supposed to work.

Bageletto, the Mission bakery that opened earlier this year and quickly built a loyal following, is expanding to Russian Hill — taking over a former Peet's Coffee location on Polk Street. No government grant. No special task force. No "retail vacancy activation initiative" with a six-figure program manager. Just a business doing well enough that it can afford to grow, filling a space that a larger chain left behind.

This is what a healthy local economy looks like when you get out of its way.

Russian Hill residents have been living in what can only be described as a bagel desert — a grim reality for anyone who believes access to a proper, chewy, everything-seasoned round of dough is basically a human right. Peet's pulling out of the Polk Street location was another in a long line of vacancies that make you wonder whether San Francisco's commercial corridors are recovering or just slowly hollowing out.

But Bageletto saw opportunity where others saw risk. That's entrepreneurship. A young business, barely a year old, betting on itself and on a neighborhood that still has foot traffic and demand — if you actually offer people something worth walking to.

The expansion also underscores something city officials love to talk about but rarely facilitate: small business growth. San Francisco's permitting process is legendarily brutal, its fees are steep, and its regulatory maze has killed more restaurant dreams than bad Yelp reviews ever could. Every time a local business manages to open a second location in this city, it's practically a miracle of paperwork survival.

So congratulations to Bageletto. May your bagels be dense, your cream cheese be plentiful, and your permits be mercifully on time. Russian Hill, your breakfast game just got a serious upgrade.