In diverse San Francisco, chain shops don't fit in
SAN FRANCISCO -- The city that spawned Gap, the now ubiquitous clothing retailer, is putting the squeeze on mega-chain stores that some say threaten to dull the personality of some famously colorful neighborhoods.
In recent years,
Last Tuesday, the city's Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance banning chains from one of the hippest neighborhoods in the city and placing them under increased scrutiny in virtually every other area. By doing so, San Francisco joins a growing number of communities battling the country's largest chains.
"We really have something to protect -- not just our individual neighborhoods, but the whole character of San Francisco," said Ed Bedard, vice president of the neighborhood association in Hayes Valley, a once-blighted collection of fading Victorians a few blocks from City Hall but now one of the city's trendiest areas.
These days, Hayes Valley bustles with a resurgent business district featuring an eclectic mix of boutiques, antiques shops, and restaurants frequented by the neighborhood's mix of yuppies, bohemians, and working-class folks.
"We have these very distinctive and charming neighborhood business districts, and one at a time, some of the stores are being replaced with a Walgreens or a Gap," Bedard said.
A year ago, Hayes Valley residents stopped a Starbucks coffee shop from opening in a gleaming new apartment building in the heart of the neighborhood's four-block commercial zone. Before that, they fended off a
In the nearby Cole Valley neighborhood, outright furor erupted last year when residents learned that a Walgreens store had snuck into the area. Despite the obvious signs of remodeling, few knew the nation's largest drugstore was moving in until its sign went up.
"San Francisco is very, very protective of its image, of its character," said Paul Lord, a senior planner with the city. "We don't want to look like Phoenix, we don't want to look like Des Moines -- places that have chain store after chain store after chain store. People don't want that here.
"This has been a longstanding battle in San Francisco."
The city has wrestled with the chain-store phenomenon for two decades, but not until now, Lord said, have officials developed a plan that they think can withstand legal challenges.
The proposed law has a long list of criteria for defining a formula chain store. By the city's definition, a formula retailer has at least a dozen outlets anywhere in the United States, uses the same logos, signage, and color scheme for its branches, and has a standard way of operating.
The law would ban any chain store from moving into Hayes Valley, and includes a right-to-know provision that requires residents to be notified when a chain store has plans to set up shop in their neighborhoods. Residents also can trigger additional reviews. The city leaves it to a business to prove it is not a chain store.
The rules would not apply to the San Francisco's upscale Union Square shopping district, or the Fisherman's Wharf area, the city's leading tourist trap.
The ordinance still is subject to a second vote. City supervisors voted 8 to 3 the first time around, which means the ordinance has the requisite support to withstand a veto from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce opposes the new restrictions. "Not unlike Boston, neighborhoods are very crucial to the character of San Francisco, but this [ordinance] would make things even more complicated," said Lee Blitch, the chamber's president. He noted that businesses that choose to operate in the city already face a number of regulatory hurdles.
The restrictions, he said, could be especially harmful as the city suffers from large budget deficits and is emerging from recent years of economic decline. Blitch said the law could make San Francisco's business climate even more frigid: `Most small businesses have dreams of going big, and this totally dampens it." The sentiment is shared by Steve Sarver and his wife, Jennifer, who hope to expand their San Francisco Soup Co. They have six eateries in the city and plan to open more.
"This will be another challenge," said Sarver, among the most vocal opponents of the measure. "We're always optimistic, and that's what it takes to succeed. We'll have to work within the law."
The expansion of large retailers is an age-old concern for small-business owners, worried about the cutthroat pricing of their competitors and being squeezed out by escalating business costs.
"It's a whole different business environment now, where the small business doesn't seem to have as much opportunity. We've got shops here you won't find anywhere else in the world," said Leigh Stackpole, who sells European footwear at Gimme Shoes in Hayes Valley and two other locations.
"This is the bohemian's place to be," added one of her customers, Marguerite Lutton.
The ordinance says "formula retail businesses are increasing in number in San Francisco, as they are in cities and towns across the country."
The recent opposition to chain stores has been provoked mainly by Walgreens and Starbucks, which has 66 coffee shops in San Francisco and wants to add more.
Home-grown chains such as Gap, one of the nation's largest clothing chains, also may find more obstacles in the quest to expand. The company, which includes Old Navy and Banana Republic, has grown to over 3,000 stores worldwide. In many of the country's largest urban areas, the store seems to be on every block, provoking the ire of neighborhood activists.
"It's a situation that we monitor in cities across the country," said Kimberly Terry, a Gap spokeswoman, who declined to comment on San Francisco's pending law.
