'Tis the season, I guess, for retail turnover in the Castro, and now Hoodline brings word that the next to go is beloved, stick-obsessed floral designer IXIA (2331 Market Street).
The flower shop with its signature window displays, which remains a thriving business after 36 years on Market Street, is relocating to another neighborhood according to owner Cheri Mims. The reasons for the move, Mims tells Hoodline, are many, but among them is the persistent problem of mentally ill homeless people wandering into the store where there are often a lot of scissors and other sharp utensils lying around.
Mims also cites the need for a longer, taller space to accommodate the type of large-scale floral sculptures IXIA makes for clients. She won't yet say where she plans to move, as a negotiation is still underway.
This is the second retail closure announced this week in the neighborhood, following the mostly expected closure of men's clothing shop Outfit (463 Castro Street), and the umpteenth closure in the last two months. (Read more about the reasons Castro has a retail vacancy problem here, and the Chronicle's Phil Matier also jumped on the topic in a column today pointing the finger at the city's conditional use approval process, which seems to take extra-long in the Castro.)
Mims has only owned IXIA, which was founded by florist Gary Weiss in 1983, for less than a year and a half. Weiss sold Mims the business in late 2017 when he decided to retire. Hoodline points out one more glaring reason why the business might want to change locations: a former IXIA employee has opened a competing shop a couple blocks away, Blumen, at 548 Castro Street.
In better neighborhood retail news over the hill in Noe Valley, there's finally going to be a tenant moving into the long vacant former Real Food Co. space at 3939 24th Street. As the Chronicle reports, a medical spa called SkinSpirit is set to open there on April 15 — after that space has sat empty for 16 years.
Related: Five Reasons Why The Castro And North Beach Have So Many Vacant Storefronts
