Despite the rainy weather the day after Christmas, many neighbors and their families are enjoying their holidays in San Francisco’s Noe Valley.
Local business owners said they also saw an increase in sales during the holidays compared to this time last year.
“These are all vintage antique pieces, this went on a horse 100 years ago. You covered the horse’s back with blankets and put this on top. Then they carried their luggage up here,” Dona Taylor, owner of When Modern Was, told CBS Bay Area News.
Taylor owns a repurposed vintage furniture and antique store on the corner of 24th and Noe Streets. She said she has seen more foot traffic this year.
“This year I woke up, almost fell off my chair. I thought, what? How did that happen? And I think a lot of it is because people are just sick and tired of white and gray and they really want something more unique,” Taylor said.
She has been active in Noe Valley for 15 years, but said her block faced many economic challenges.
‘I survived the corona crisis, we lost fourteen stores in Noe Valley. We lost all our shoe stores, all our clothing stores, our cheese store, our jewelry store, I mean I could go on and on,” Taylor said.
Taylor also added that skyrocketing rents are also bringing in more new businesses.
“It’s scary. Right? If you’re going to open a store and you want to sell a pair of jeans, but your rent is $25,000 a month, how are you going to sell your jeans for $50?” Taylor asked.
Just a few steps away, a new local entrepreneur braved these potential challenges.
“This fall we launched this line of San Francisco products. So it’s nine different seasonings, based on nine different neighborhoods in San Francisco. And we’ve been working on this all summer. We’ve had so many customers over the last few years “We’ve been asking for years if we had something with a San Francisco theme,” Perfectly Seasoned owner Phuong Mai told CBS News Bay Area.
Mai opened his shop in Noe Valley about two years ago and carries nearly 400 different spices from around the world.
“Homemade seasonings, these are things we developed ourselves, our own recipes, there are things you can’t get anywhere else, things like this Moroccan rose,” Mai said.
The local spice shop attracts repeat customers from all over town.
“We try to come in, even though we live on the other side of town, to support him because we love their spices,” Amy Pollock, a customer, told CBS News Bay Area.
“We need local businesses, generally they just have great products. And the old saying, you get what you paid for, and I believe you get really good products from local businesses,” she added.
As for Mai, he said their business this year has been even better than last year.
“Last year we were still quite new, and this year we got a lot more recognition, a lot more people came out. And I think this year there were just more people willing to spend money? So yeah, we had a very good holiday season compared to last year,” he said.
Back at When Modern Was, Taylor said that despite the economic challenges, it’s the passion and community that keep her doing what she loves.
“I do it because I enjoy it. I don’t pay myself a lot, but I pay myself enough to run the store and spend a few hours with my employees, who are all 65 years young,” she said.
