Despite vacant storefronts lining commercial corridors everywhere, a space that was empty since well before the pandemic is now the site of a new Andronico’s market in the Outer Richmond District at Clement Street and 32nd Avenue.
The Beauty Network website makes it possible to reach customers all over the world without those customers leaving their homes.
Ocean Beach Cafe is a new restaurant on La Playa Street between Balboa and Cabrillo, led by former bartender Joshua James. After 20 years in the restaurant industry, he has finally opening his own place. But this time around, none of the drinks have alcohol.
A Whole Foods store’s move into the City Center at Masonic Avenue and Geary Boulevard is now on hold after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors reversed a decision by the SF Planning Department to exempt the project from an environmental review.
Small businesses are the heart of the Richmond District.
While being open or closed is a moving target for restaurants, many of outdoor dining spaces had become an attraction to residents and visitors who enjoy going out to eat and crave a sense of community.
To slow the spread of small business failures during the pandemic, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has expanded and extended a moratorium on evicting commercial tenants who cannot pay rent because of COVID-19.
Nothing about 2020 has been typical, but brothers Saadi and Adar Halil, the co-owners and founders of Hometown Creamery, have stayed optimistic. They have also managed to stay open during the most challenging circumstances for small businesses in memory.
According to the SFMTA website, “Shared Spaces allows merchants to use sidewalks, full or partial streets, and other nearby public spaces like parks, parking lots and plazas for restaurant pick-up and other neighborhood retail activities.”
The Hockey Haven has operated continuously for more than 70 years, up until the past few months of shelter in place. They are one of the many small businesses in the Richmond District that have been impacted by the pandemic.
San Francisco restaurants started serving customers at outdoor tables on June 15 after three months of being restricted to take-out and delivery to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Roberta Mindich-Fink and Jesse Fink remember so many people who have come through the doors of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, at the corner of Clement Street and Fifth Avenue, that it is hard to recall all of them at once.
While businesses in the Richmond District are facing tremendous challenges due to the shutdown to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, there are also glimmers of hope.
Gui Oliveira profiles an old family-run business in the Richmond, Gus’ Discount Tackle.
Small Businesses in the Richmond are reeling from shelter-in-place orders that have left non-essential businesses struggling to survive.
