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At 1021 Geneva Ave., a Carpet Store Is Becoming a Quilt Shop — With $50,000 in City Help
City Made Quilts, backed by a $50,000 city storefront grant, is set to open this August in a former carpet store on Geneva Avenue in the Excelsior —…
Mission Comics Plants a Second Flag on Geneva Avenue
On Geneva Avenue, between the pupuserías and the nail salons, a new storefront is starting to look like something — long tables going in, boxes being…
On Excelsior Avenue, Jeff Murray Has Been Paying Attention
On Geneva Avenue, on Ocean, on the residential blocks that slope away from both, Jeff Murray has been pointing a camera at the Excelsior for years —…
The Permanent Grand Opening: Irving Street's Grocery Stores Have Cracked the Code
Walk down Irving Street in the Sunset and you'll notice something peculiar: grand opening banners that have been hanging so long they've faded in the…
How Does That Store Stay Open? SF's Most Gloriously Inexplicable Small Businesses
Every San Franciscan has one. That store you walk past three times a week, never see a single customer inside, and think: there is absolutely no way…
Wait, Retailers Actually Want to Come Back to Downtown SF?
File this under "things we didn't have on our 2025 bingo card." Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's are all reportedly eyeing space in…
On Third Street, Bayview Gets Its First Pharmacy Since Walgreens Left
The D10 Community Pharmacy, funded by a city storefront opportunity grant, is slated to open at 5668 Third St.
Uniqlo Moves Into Old Navy's Former Flagship — And Yes, It's Actually Happening
For anyone who's walked past the ghostly husk of the former Old Navy at 4th and Market and wondered if downtown retail had simply given up, here's…
The North Beach Gift Shop That Became the Internet's Favorite Mystery
In a city where small businesses are constantly fighting to survive — crushed between rising rents, permitting nightmares, and a regulatory…
Seven Years to Open a Weed Shop: Excelsior's Newest Dispensary Is a Monument to SF Bureaucracy
A new cannabis dispensary called Green Field is set to open at 4687 Mission St.
SF Has 40+ Independent Bookstores. That's Something Worth Celebrating.
Saturday marked Independent Bookstore Day, and if you didn't make it out to one of San Francisco's 40-plus indie bookshops, consider this your nudge…
The Last Sears in California Is Thriving in Concord — Thanks to Nostalgia Tourism
In an era where government-subsidized redevelopment projects gobble up retail space and cities throw tax dollars at "innovation districts" that never…
Zara Is Taking Over Union Square — And That's Actually Good News
In a city where vacant storefronts have become as iconic as the Painted Ladies, here's a rare win: Zara is reportedly moving into the prime corner…
In Uptown, a Bookstore Opened in January. In Montclair, One Closed Today.
A Great Good Place for Books shut its Montclair doors for good on Sunday, June 14, after 29 years.
The Little Stages of Haight Street: What Storefront Windows Tell Us About a Neighborhood
Take an evening walk down Haight Street and do something radical: stop scrolling, look up, and actually look at the storefront windows.
The Lights Are Off at Fifth and Market
On the corner of Fifth and Market, the escalators have stopped.
Thrift Town Is Back: The Mission's Favorite Treasure Hunt Reopens
In a city where beloved small businesses seem to vanish weekly — replaced by either vacancy or another boba shop — here's a rare bit of good news…
A 7-Eleven Dies, an Andytown Rises: The Free Market Doing Its Thing at 66 Kearny
Here's a small story that says something big about downtown San Francisco right now: the old 7-Eleven space at 66 Kearny, corner of Geary — vacant…
SF's Grocery Desert Keeps Growing: Lucky on Fulton Is the Latest Casualty
San Francisco is losing another grocery store, and if you live in the Western Addition or NoPa, you already feel the sting.
Held Over Rings Up Its Last Sale on Haight
On the 1500 block of Haight, the racks are moving toward the door.
Gap Closes Its Last Oakland Store — And Nobody Even Knew It Was There
Gap is shutting down its only remaining store in Oakland, and the reaction from the community tells you everything you need to know about the state…
Where Do You Actually Buy Clothes in San Francisco?
Here's a question that shouldn't be hard but somehow is: where do you go clothes shopping in San Francisco?
Beard Papa's Keeps Expanding — And San Francisco's Sweet Tooth Keeps Winning
Look, we spend a lot of time in this space talking about businesses leaving San Francisco — the empty storefronts, the boarded-up retail corridors…
City Puts $300,000 Into Four Mission Storefronts, From a Nightclub at 19th to a Furniture Shop Headed for 15th
The city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development awarded $300,000 in Storefront Opportunity Grants to four Mission District businesses —…
In the Inner Sunset, a New Privately Funded Grant Program Aims to Fill Storefronts
SF New Deal launches a privately funded pilot grant program for Inner Sunset businesses, offering up to $20,000 to fill vacant storefronts and…
On Van Ness at Eddy, 250,000 Square Feet of Empty and One $3.5 Million Bet on What Comes Next
Van Ness Avenue near Eddy Street carries a 35 percent commercial vacancy rate and a new city ordinance inviting chain stores — while a $3.5 million…
The Case for 'Slow Stores' — SF's Most Underrated Neighborhood Anchors
In a city obsessed with the Next Big Thing — the hottest reservation, the longest brunch line, the newest concept restaurant with a $28 grain bowl —…
Last Stop Vintage Show: Where Your Wallet Goes to Die (But At Least It's Not Taxes)
There's something beautifully free-market about a vintage show.
Noodles, Thrift, and Mocktails: Four Tenderloin Storefronts Take a City-Backed Bet on Larkin
SF's Office of Workforce and Economic Development is sending $3 million to 39 small businesses across the city — four of them on Larkin and O'Farrell…
Asked to Name Their Favorite Bookstores, Bay Area Authors Sketch a Map That Crosses the Bridge
The SF Standard's survey of 13 author-endorsed bookstores doubles as a literary geography of the Bay — from Clement Street to Corte Madera — and…