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While some Valencia Street merchants and Geary Boulevard business owners would have you believe that San Francisco is a bastion of overpriced boutique stores and inaccessibility, respectively, most of you are too smart to believe such tripe. A city is, arguably, meant to grow. Onward and upward, right? Right.
But sometimes our heart strings don't zing when said growth means the death of a cool-looking building. One building of bitchin' aesthetic that will soon play host to a demolition crew is the Cala Foods in Nob Hill.
According to Curbed, Cala will be "replaced by six to eight stories of 107 condos with ground-floor retail, including a new grocery store." However, the loss of this neato building might not be that bad, at least not for residents who live nearby. SFist Leanne tells us, "It's gross, especially when I saw a pigeon hanging out over the produce."
In the meantime, after the supermarket closes on December 31, 2010, residents who rely on Cala Foods Nob Hill can go to Polk Street Produce at Polk and Pine, Le Beau at Leavenworth and Clay, or the pricier Whole Foods on California.
The new complex should, according to guesstimates, be done by 2012.
Altered image credit: Whole Wheat Toast
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Just don't touch The Hyde-Out
seconded
Cala (Ralphs, or Krogers, whoever owns them these days) has given up on doing business in San Francisco. It's a massive loss to the neighborhood (and downtown area... ).
There don't seem to be very many places left within reach of a bus or cable car where one can do "regular stuff" grocery shopping.
The only alternatives my carless neighbors and I will have is the uber-scuzzy "Big Apple" grocery store at Polk & Clay (they don't like to accept the coupons that you see in the Sunday papers), Real Foods or Whole Paychecks, which are ridiculously overpriced. I haven't gone to Le Beau or Polk Street Produce, but they don't seem like the kind of stores where one will find reasonably priced staples.
p.s. Cala is built on what used to be a Cable Car barn. There are photos of that barn posted on the wall opposite of the checkout cashiers.
Whatever new grocery store they put there will undoubtedly NOT be open 24 hours. What the hell is with this city anyway?
I totally agree with the posters above - every year, there are less and less options for regular people to do their regular shopping in this City. For folks living in the downtown area - home to the historically largest concentration of high-density rental housing - its become a choice between Whole Paycheck or relying on small, corner stores with limited selections and high prices. Unless you are a yuppie or indepently wealthy, you can't go do your weekly shopping at Whole Foods - its just too damn expensive.
Small, corner groceries like Polk Street Produce are handy for mid-week items, but you their pricing on non-produce items like canned/dry goods, household items, etc. is over-priced as well - and the selection sucks.
This is a real blow to the regular Joe's who live in this area of town.
You want to know the truth, though? As nasty as this place was, it was actually more expensive than Whole Foods. I am absolutely 100% not joking. I refused to believe it, so I did a whole lot (and I mean a lot) of price comparisons. The products from Whole Foods were cheaper. CHEAPER. Even the Whole Foods produce was cheaper than Cala about 50% of the time. Fucking amazing. I used to live two blocks from Cala, but once I realized that, I marched the extra three blocks to Whole Foods from then on.
That's what I've always thought too. It seems to me that the Whole Foods brand is pretty affordable -- I hear that they're trying to stay competitive with Trader Joes, and their vitamins, bulk, body products, and produce isn't that badly priced either. But their meat, wine, prepared foods, etc. is what's expensive.
I'm with the commenters below, I stock up at Trader Joes every 10 days or so, and get my produce delivered weekly from Farm Fresh to You (this keeps me from letting it rot in the fridge). I've also been supplementing some of my produce at the Heart of the City farmers market at Civic Center. My local corner store also has some decent staples that aren't too outrageously expensive either.
I'll third this motion. I've found prices at Safeway and Lucky to be about the same or, for certain items, more expensive than WF. And the produce doesn't even approach the level of quality at WF. (I'm no shill for WF, either. In fact I am currently boycotting WF, but missing it dearly!)
And why does Cala (in whatever location) always seem so dirty?
If you really want a dirty store with overpriced items (and a surly staff, to boot!), just go to Rainbow!
There's also a reasonably priced albeit smaller grocery store that I frequent near Sutter/Hyde.
While I don't go to Cala too often, the "big box" condos they put up in its place will no doubt look boring compared to the sweeping roofline of Cala. Too bad.
Fingers crossed that they put in a Trader Joes...
This Cala was featured prominently in a fab 60s movie called "Petulia." Seek it out if you want to see what the store in the good old days.
I hate to admit this, but the consumer whore side of me misses the days when grocery store fixtures were chromed out, with energy wasting lights and the stench of American "cheese" smell.
They had that open-air layout at least until the early 90s (92-94), I remember it quite well from my first place in SF.
I lived near there for years, was broke, and ate every meal in. I bought bulk food at Whole Foods and produce and staples at Le Beau, and would do a Trader Joe's run two or three times a month for the rest. The produce at Le Beau was better and cheaper than Cala.
I've solved the grocery problem with Safeway delivery. Beats the crap out of hauling all those bags around and it still costs less than going to the neighborhood grocery store. (Delano's)
that's where I got my lunch during my internship years ago. ah, memories.
Lived in the area for a short time a number of years ago. I remember Cala on Nob Hill as an obnoxiously expensive store with no redeeming qualities. It seemed set up to take advantage of retirees who couldn't travel far (do to the hills).
Yes, okay, it is dirty and expensive, but it is OPEN 24 HOURS!
wtf?
where else am i going to be able to buy a decent pack of beer - who am i kidding? cider damn it! i love cider! - after midnight?
This building will be closed on December 31, 2010. Relax you guys, there's still a year left to enjoy San Francisco's last piece of Googie Architecture. Albeit overpriced, very nice building.
Not only this blog but other posters mention LeBeau, my corner store and a favorite for many years, with great owners, a great staff and a true neighborhood feeling. It IS better and cheaper than Cala - and so is Whole Foods , for many items, at least if one buys the Whole Foods brand or other cheaper brands offered at Whole Foods (whether or not to boycott them is a separate issue, covered in a separate sfist item). The Cala stores are all notorious ghetto gougers - the one on Van Ness and 23rd (near where I lived before Nob Hill) was incredibly expensive. I did like many of the checkout people at this Cala, however - and there was also a change-counter that would give you a receipt with which you could get bills (for a price)! But the interior is nasty, the food is nasty, it's all just nasty. Once I did manage to convince some East Coast tourist friends that the great Eero Saarinen had designed this Cala as a study for Dulles: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Dulles_Airport.html
Too bad it's not just being made into a skateboard rooftop park/downstairs chill lounge. ;) Any word on what grocery is going in there? Not another Whole Foods, is it?!?