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Mission Mission, the one true voice of the Mission district as far as we're concerned, brings up the American Apparel brouhaha. If you recall, American Apparel is dropping a spore smack dab on chic Valencia Street. And the people of skid row are up in arms over it. Or so it seems. As Allan Hough asks, "Is the whole neighborhood up in arms?
And he brings up a great point. Is the entire hood angry about this, or is this "one dude claim[ing] to represent the community and some web writers took him at his word?" We're going to go with the latter, because getting angry over this one little store makes about as much sense as this site. We think the real working class ilk of the Mission, which goes above and beyond the kids waiting outside Boogaloos, can think for themselves on this one. That is, if they even care about it.
That said, take our poll to find out what the city really thinks of this smut peddler cum designer gracing Valencia Street with his reasonably-priced and well-made attire.
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I love Stephen and usually agree with his efforts, even when he tilts at windmills, but on this one its logical incoherent.
Its still not clear exactly what is being preserved and who for whom.
Valencia Street isn't FOR the real working class ilk of the Mission.
It's true, I miss the old Kentucky Fried Chicken. I miss Pizzaz even more. They had the best hash browns.
The company's expansion into retail was the fastest retail roll out in American history.[30] In 2003 American Apparel opened company stores in Los Angeles, Montreal, and New York to nearly $80 million dollars in sales[31] As of 2008 the company has more than 200 stores worldwide and continues rapid retail growth, with new stores in the United States, Israel, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland, China, Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, Mexico, United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. Stores are planned or under development for Belgium, Italy, Iceland, Spain,[23], China[32], and Hawaii.[33]
American Apparel retail stores are marketed and designed individually rather than homogeneously.[34] Store designs are sparse and typically cost between $100,000 and $400,000 to develop.[34] The company tends to reject midtown, high rent locations and generally avoids in-mall stores.[34] The stores are often hubs for urban renewal since the company looks for low-rent but high traffic locations like Houston, Little Tokyo, New Orleans, college towns and most recently across from the Apollo Theater on 125th in Harlem.[35][34] In some stores, the decor features Penthouse Magazine covers from 1970s and 1980s - a style that has been controversial.[36] When scouting for locations, it considers urban areas that can be revitalized.[37] After opening on Southwest Stark Street in Portland, Oregon American Apparel was joined by a vintage clothing store, sushi restaurant, shoe shop and modern-styled hotel.[37] In some cases, the company sublets parts of retail locations to other businesses of the same demographic, bringing additional retailers to previously unoccupied space.[37] The bulk of American Apparel retail venues are in New York City and California.[38][34]
AmericanApparelStore.com[39] is the company's e-commerce sales hub.[40] It carries an online inventory of roughly 250,000 SKUs and receives 1.5 million visitors per month.[41] Online sales grew from $13.3 million in 2006 to $29.3 million in 2007.[41] The company site runs on the Yahoo Stores platform and is included in the Internet Retailer 500 Index.[41][42]
In late 2007, American Apparel opened a retail location for vintage clothing called California Select in Echo Park, a district of Los Angeles[43]. Shortly afterward, the company began selling vintage clothing through an Ebay store of the same name.[7][44] In 2008, the company was named "Retailer of the Year", following Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta.[45][46
Dov, is that you? "Hubs for urban renewal," ay? Sounds like a euphemism for gentrification.
Oh, you found a corporate backgrounder. Good for you. They are very rare, hidden things.
OK! You can cut and paste from Wikipedia. Yay!
Now, what's your point?
There is no point really..I thought AA was something else, not really a chain, that's all. I was surprised when I read this.
I volunteer at Artists' Television Access which is next door on 992 Valencia st...so I give more than a shit about what happens on that corner.
Yes, Valencia street is not perfect for anybody..either because it is too hip or because it is not hip enough..oh well! but ATA has been there for over 20 years, way before gentrification hit the Mission. We are a non-commercial, all-volunteer space with a social conscience and represent and support a big community of local artists and filmmakers. The work of thousands of filmmakers has been screened at ATA and is appreciated by thousands every year.
Let me make it to the point. The other night I was outside ATA looking at both window installations and imagined an American Apparel store next door with big posters, lots of white light and loud music coming out of it...it gave me the chills.
Will AA sound proof their shop, bring new audiences to ATA and be our good neighbor for the next 25 years? or, Will Urban Outfitters offer our landlord more money to take over 992 Valencia St next year to be AA's neighbor?
Are community spaces like ATA doomed, not worth our time a day? If it's already hard for us, imagine how hard it is going to get for new spaces and ideas.
Who gives a fuck, it's a store, it's not like it could possibly INCREASE the amount of hipsters in the mission.
The anti-Big Box crowd needs to pull their heads out of their arses and take a good long look at our current economic reality. The days of mom and pop retail are basically over and folks like Peskin thinking they can zone their way into the 1950's are seriously deluded. Al they're going to get for their efforts is crap like dream catcher stores, ye olde fashioned candy shoppe featuring home made fudge, Irish stores, Hollywood memorabilia stands, and other tourist trap crap. In a neighborhood like the Mission, I don't even see that. All I see are dollar stores, far and wide. Ironically, everything those businesses sell is made in China anyway, so ultimately what's the difference? Chain stores are real and they're not going away. If you want to maintain some economic vitality in your neighborhood, you simply can't ignore the chains. What you can do is choose what kind of chains you want. American Apparel, while crap, is NOT Wal-Mart. It's not even the next closest thing to Wal-Mart. It IS the kind of chain store that should be plopped down in the Mission if anyone is interested in keeping the neighborhood from looking like downtown Vallejo.
Trust me folks, I live in the Haight and we have an American Apparel outlet. This store has not suddenly transformed Haight Street into a carbon copy of the Marina. Haight Street is just as grotty with or without it.
"All I see are dollar stores, far and wide."
Stop.
Now, walk to a corner.
Look up at the street sign.
See where it says "Mission"? That means you're on Mission Street.
Go west to the next major street. There you are!
you seem to have a bizarre idea of what valencia street is like.
the idea that valencia street is anything approaching urban blight, or that it is desperately in need of some kind of commercial infusion is simply false.
I live in the Haight as well and while American Apparel certainly isn't the worst offender it's definitely indicative of the gentrification problems that plague the area. There's basically nothing but crappy, overpriced clothing stores, bars, smoke shops aimed at tourists, and a few cheap, fast restaurants.
It's not serving the needs of the neighborhood very well and AA isn't making it better, only worse.
There are tons of empty storefronts in Valencia. Nobody else is expanding. Bringing more traffic to the area will only help businesses.
Bringing big chains to Valencia Street will only help big chains..rent for businesses will only go up more and only the big chains will be able to afford it.
Really? So like it's better to just leave the street moribund with boarded up shop windows?
I know its your shtick but that is a false dichotomy.
Valencia street isn't moribund w/ boarded out storefronts, it is a thriving boutique paradise. Does this benefit the so-called working class or are these stores themselves already catering to the lofts and chelsea gardens? That's the real question.
Also, like I said before, the people who would shop at AA in the mission (and then the stores that followed) would not necessarily be mission residents (hipster or otherwise). So it wouldn't be up to the neighborhood to simply not shop there and put them out of business.
In other words maybe this issue can't be resolved in 200 pithy words on a blog?
Why use a false dichotomy when a logical fallacy will do? Enough with the undergrad language, use your grown-up voice.
Wait, what's the adult way of saying that?
Personally, I like it when people are specific about what brand of bullshit they're calling out.
Yes, I'm sure it's much more complicated than I could possibly imagine.
No brock, I simply meant that your post was not (probably) intended to summarize the totality of viewpoints.
My schtick? I'm sorry, when it comes to matters of urban planning, my schtick doesn't apply because that's my job. Were I employing my schtick, I would undoubtedly be telling you to stick it in your ear.
Thriving boutique paradise? While the very notion makes my skin crawl with disdain, I don't disagree. You guys rather over eagerly missed my point. Perhaps you should have read my first post. Rejecting a shop because it happens to be a chain is ignoring reality. No neighborhood existing today can subsist for very long on annoying boutiques selling ironic crap and expect to remain viable unless it's a tourist trap and the Mission, while many things, is no tourist trap.
Lardtub points out below that mom and pop shops fail because people don't patronize them. This is only one part of the equation. People, especially working class people, will shop where they'll get the most bang for their buck. Chain stores can offer better prices than mom and pops because they can move way more merchandise at lower prices. Banning them from your neighborhood won't do a whole lot except encourage folks to go outside the neighborhood to shop. However, having one or two of the right chain stores in a neighborhood will keep people shopping in the neighborhood, walking from chain store to mom and pop if for no other reason than it's convenient. A store like American Apparel would be of benefit to the cruddy boutiques on Valencia, a lot more of a benefit than yet another Rachel Ray terror scarf shop or whatever ever would.
"Perhaps you should have read my first post."
I read your first post. That was the one that tipped me off that you've never walked down Valencia.
Yeah? Well then you must suffer from the heartbreak of poor reading comprehension, what. Either way, thanks for sharing.
There is more to this. What happens when a Starbucks moves next to a "mom and pop" coffee shop? The barista's at starbucks are paid better and have medical insurance, the "mom and pop" store sees 30% more revenue than they did before the Starbucks moved in.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180301/pagenum/all/
except that that strip of valencia street is not only subsisting, but thriving. the last couple of years have been very good for it. paxton gate recently expanded. four barrel is another recent addition. there's a huge amount of new foot traffic in the neighborhood, and this is why aa wants in. again, you seem to not know the area we're talking about because while it does house some fancy clothing boutiques that may indeed sell scarves, it is also home to thrift stores, bookstores, video stores, bars, and dozens of cheap and not-so-cheap restaurants that serve a wide array of people. many of these restaurants are packed every night of the week.
you're basically arguing that a neighborhood can't survive without chain stores, and since valencia has none, it must be falling apart, so it probably needs some chain stores.
but, as anyone that's been there in the last couple years can attest, it's not falling apart, it's doing quite well.
Your schtick is that you're an "Angry Young Man" and your bias is obvious. You are a city planner so you want to raise the tax base of the city to pay your salary.
Valencia St. is not moribund, but there are plenty of vacant storefronts (including the space AA is taking) and lots of under-utilized space. I can't see how AA will adversely affect any of the existing merchants -- there are no similar mom and pop stores on the street. In fact it is likely to make Valencia St. a more vibrant shopping strip and a place that the neighborhood residents will visit more often.
And, if the neighborhood doesn't shop there, it won't survive; not many people are going to trek to the Mission just to shop there when the could more easily go to any of its other stores.
I think people need to put aside their irrational fear that one chain store will begat a Wall-Mart and accept that Valencia St. needs more retail. While personally AA would not be my first choice, I think it will only improve the neighborhood.
this is misleading. american apparel had already laid claim to that place when it was still david campos' campaign headquarters. it's only vacant because they haven't moved into it yet.
uh, have you been to valencia street lately? it is not moribund by any stretch of the imagination.
Gentrification isn't really about the number of hipsters, it's about steadily and sometimes dramatically increasing property values, which begets property tax increases, which beget rent increases - and not just for the Mexicans, but don't we all wish.
I gotta say this is a really interesting argument for San Francisco. When I was a teenager I was living in the Western Addition just a quick walk from Haight Street. I can remember the (literal) firestorm that hit Haight St when the Gap first opened there. There was a HUGE fight and if I remember correctly someone even firebombed (or was it just smashed the windows) once or twice.
I've never thought chain stores were much of a threat. No matter where they pop up they are still only going to succeed if you support them. Even Haight and Valencia are subject to market forces no matter how much the remains of the counterculture might think otherwise. The majority of San Francisco is definitely mellowing.
i think one thing getting overlooked here is that stephen elliot isn't going to keep the store from opening. it's not like he's some kind of boss tweed of the mission. if enough people show up at the planning comission meeting or sign a petition to convince the commission that a sizable portion of the neighborhood objects to it, it won't get through. if no one cares, or it's just a few crazies "claiming to represent the community", we'll have american apparel on valencia. the system works, hopefully. i guess that doesn't make for sensational blog copy though.
of course, you're failing to note the objections of several popular valencia street businesses in your attempt to belittle the whole thing.
is the thing about "reasonable-priced" and well-made a joke?
Throwing bricks through the windows every weekend like they did to get the Gap off Haight and Ashbury might do the trick.
I especially don't like that creepy sex offender owner of American Apparel so for that alone I wouldn't want to see a storefront on Valencia. There are plenty of other AAs in the city, and plenty of other hipster shops on that stretch. Chain stores on the Valencia Corridor would be whack. Buffalo Exchange is enough.
it ISN"T just "one guy" up in arms. it is really sad that we can't escape ugly retail, even in a neighborhood that was dangerous (read: VERY violent) 10 or 15 years ago. the only reason that mom and pop stores are dying is that people are letting them die. what kind of asshole would rather support american apparel than a mom and pop?
and may i just say, the reason people are so upset about the rising yuppie crap in the mission is that gentrification claims far more casualties in a poor mexican neighborhood than in say, lower nob hill...
I really don't care one way or the other. There's other AA's in the city, so it's not like people will be flocking to the mission, and it's not like there are any other businesses that compete directly with AA on Valencia either - if I want interesting/unique clothing I'll go to a smaller store, if I want cotton basics I'll go to AA.
As for the whole slippery slope argument, there's quite a difference between a clothing company that follows ethical practices and pays their workers a fair wage, and a store like the Gap. I just don't see the big deal.
Also props to Brock for using the correct form of the phrase "I couldn't care less" and not the oft-(mis)used "I could care use".
Anyone who claims Valencia Street is "working class" doesn't know what working class is. There ARE working class areas in the Mission, but Valencia Street (the main strip) isn't really so much. Most of the shops on Valencia Street already cater to the type of crowd American Apparel would draw. An AA seems fitting.
Valencia St is the Mission like Potrero Ave is Potrero Hill. The Mission used to be bigger, but now it's pretty obvious that there's one neighborhood West of Mission and another to the East. I suppose folks who think the Mission is a BART station can be excused for not knowing the difference
they have this shirt i really want.
I live on Valencia Street, near three empty storefronts, between 16th and 17th. Although I love browsing through the gorgeous and creative local boutiques, I can't afford most of what's in them (has anyone bought anything from Bell Jar?). It would be great to have more stores in the area which sell things I actually need. Are there really any "mom and pop" shops which sell US-made socks and underwear that will have business stolen by AA?
Also, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people out on my block on a weekend aren't from the neighborhood anyway. Sure, it's herds of bros on Friday night, and $800 strollers the next morning, but so what? People are enjoying themselves and keeping businesses open.
Would people object less if AA opened on Mission Street? Maybe there's a spot near Foreign Cinema.
i used to screen print my drawings of eames furniture and birds onto AA shirts, but i'm really into urban planning now.
When we say 'the mission' here we really mean a four block stretch of Valencia, right?
I agree that it should be preserved as a kind of living museum where we can visit and see the fast disappearing hipster way of life. I was touched to my very soul last night as I watched some loon with a fixie dance in front of a police car outside revolution cafe in an attempt to get arrested.
AA fills a very important niche in the market: supplying thigh-high tube socks to be worn during dirty, dirty sexual acts.
They should move next door to me.
Well to go along with that fine visual, they should be allowed a space next door to good vibrations.
Screw American Apparel. Just go all out and put in an Urban Outfitters, Hot Topic and In-n-Out. Might as well, they aren't WalMart, right? Other places that have these stores haven't been turned into the Marina, have they? Because, of course, the Marina is the measuring stick for how we compare all neighborhoods and local culture. And it really is all about money. We need money. Lot's of money. So let's grab the money. All other considerations aside.
So no problem. Move along.
Such anger is surely born via an internet connection which is paid for by ones parents.
You're amusing, in a clueless sort of way.
I think the store would be OK. We need a reliable source of men's pink jockey shorts.
fascinating watching the wrath of the hipsters (renters). Last i checked that stretch of Valencia was BOTH great boutiques AND boarded up storefronts. the overflow is good for other businesses in the neighborhood, i.e. bars & restaurants. Don't like it? don't shop there. But to claim its at cross purposes with other fashion businesses (like a Wal Mart for example) is a stretch.
Todd1: I absolutely agree. And hey, who really cares about the Valencia St Faux working class. If these people had any idea about the city beautification scheduled for Valencia they're REALLY go crazy!
Valencia Street has had Blondies Bar and No Grill on it for the past 15 years. Therefore it's shit. I rest my case.
hmm. i wonder if stephen elliot protests chain stores that carry his books.
Jekka got it right; people need to question who or what they're defending. I wonder whether those arguing on behalf of the so-called "mom and pops" even live in the vicinity of the Mission. When was the last time you bought something at Paxton Gate or X21 Modern, or ate dinner at Range or Foreign Cinema?
The fact is, you want the aura of the place, not the place itself. If your agenda is the preservation of chic boutiques that cater to those earning a comfortable six-figure salary off their Web 2.0 start-up, then by all means keep protesting American Apparel. But if you want to defend working-class mom and pops, then turn your attention to Anna's Linens, or the cavalcade of dollar stores on Mission St., and you will find your ideal is in no danger of disappearing.
this.
has every store in the neighborhood been protested like this? why are we picking on the one positive one?
i wish american apparel would take over the 826 valencia space and kick steven elliott and his overskilled, undertalented ilk out the hood.
This debate really is interesting. Do the people who claim to be protecting the mission from chain stores actually know any mexican folks that grew up in the Mission in the 70's, 80's? Someone mad a great point about the chains on Mission st., does that not count? If a fast food chain was going in on 18th and Mission people wouldn't say shit. Artsy white people moved into the mission in the 90's and alot of mexican people got pushed out in the late 90's. If you're really concerned about AA going in, find someone who is mexican that grew up in the Mission that is in their 30's/40's, explain your concern, and they will laugh in your face. Seriously.
hey look on the bright side: the line at ritual should get shorter bc folks in there will have somewhere else to go...