Over in the city's elite Mission District, rue de la Valencia might play host to a couple of chain stores. (Heh.) According to Mission Local, two retailers hawking widely-available goods might worm their way into the precious D9 lifestyle. Aesop, an Australian perfume shop, which sounds perfect because scents are glorious and you probably stink, and San Francisco belt-buckle messenger bag company, Chrome Industries, last seen on your bearded friend who rides a Public Bike to work.
In a lengthy article, Mission Local notes:
Aesop and Chrome plan to move into 956 Valencia St. — between 20th and 21st, next door to Mission Creek Café — which has been vacant since July when The Touch, a furniture store, moved to Mission Street after the landlord tripled the rent. This week, the store was vacant with construction workers inside. The Valencia property owner, a limited liability company named after the building’s address, didn’t respond to an email.It’s unclear how Valencia merchants will react to Chrome, a San Francisco-founded company known for its American-made messenger bags selling for $80 to $200 and cycling accessories. Its merchandise is already carried by Mission Bicycle, the general manager of which was one of the main opponents of Jack Space.
According to Aesop spokesperson, Victoria Del Ric, they're not trying to gentrify the neighborhood. (Too late.) "We like to have small stores that go with the neighborhood," she goes on to tell ML.
Also, Chrome isn't really a chain, right? They have a few locations, but definitely not 11. However, it could be on its way to becoming a chain store since that's typically the goal of small formula retail businesses. Maybe there's some sort of Minority Report-like program for stores perceived as getting too big for their britches? That would be horrifying.
Anyway, when Jack Spade tried moving in on the boutique street of choice earlier this year, organized protesters managed to get the company out of the neighborhood. Understandably so. Residents should have a right to say what pops up in their hood. (Also, for bizarre reasons, new Missionites like to outwardly pretend they have little money. Sporting a Dipped York Brief at Papalote stands in direct opposition to the socioeconomic posturing for which San Francisco's Little Brooklyn is infamous. Shhh.)
