Some brainstorming from reader zinzin about what Valencia Street really needs:
i think we could also use a store that sells really expensive kid clothing. maybe themed. like…victorian era kid clothing. or depression era / little rascals type. (they could pay the rent on che t-shirts sold to the b&t crowd on saturdays)
there was a woman who was vocal in the whole AA shenanigan that wanted to open a place that exhibits and sells antique sex toys. which also implies “used” sex toys, but whatever. (not sure how they’d pay the rent, but you know they’d only be open 6 or 10 hours a week anyways).
how about a steam-punk boutique / tea shop / performance space? (corporate events)
an exact-replica apothecary out of sherlock holmes? (actually, this could make money…plenty of current products to sell)
same concept, but 1940′s woolworth counter? 1950′s malt shoppe? (brunch crowds)
a store specializing in magazines & cigarettes from europe? (probably they’d have to sell illegal substances to make money)
chocolate store. (chocolate)
Link.
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actually, there are a few things i would REALLY like to see in the hood, not necessarily on valencia, more like on mission…but wherever.
a good bakery with predictable output (i love tartine, best bread in the city imho, but it’s too much work for me)
i still think a nice big gym in one of the old theaters would be great
wine shop: $25 or less
decent cheap chinese restaurant (maybe there is one, i havent found it…like yumyum)
a store that sells US made, all cotton, casual clothes and…oh. sorry about that.
“a store specializing in magazines & cigarettes from europe”
There’s a store like that in Davis. They sell other stuff, too, domestic publications and stationery &c. It’s called Newsbeat, and it fills a nice niche.
when i was at university i LIVED in a store that fits that description…basically smoking english ovals and reading british art mags and hanging around with all the other design monkeys. they also sold EU candies.
oh shit…
the Tom Ammiano’s Mission Hash Bar. that shit belongs on Valencia for sure.
Great, a post dedicated to the one person around this joint that really needs an ego boost.
You go zin! Your tolerance and intellect are an inspiration to us all.
p.s. don’t forget to leave the house some time this week.
ZinZin:
I think your list is good starting point.
The lack of decent chinese food (at any price) in the Mission is just unnaceptable. Harry Hunan’s should have opened Valencia St. rather than Church St. (where there are already 2 good Chinese places within a few blocks).
Gym, bakery and wine store would all be good.
There used to be a pot club on 22nd St. but it was run out by the neighgors; probably just as well.
Chinese food (or just more asian generally) for sure! Yamo (I *once* got a seat there) and Sunflower (essentially a monopoly) just don’t cut it.
I also like the euro smokes-and-magazines store idea. Most importantly, this store would provide an ideal place for local independistas to “hang out” — a virtual silver bullet for receiving the blessings of the Valencia St. gatekeepers.
Add comics (graphic novels) to the euro smokes-and-magazines store, and I’ll take up smoking just to hang out there.
And of course decent chinese food came to my mind too. That’s a real need that somebody probably will fill.
isnt there a pot club up near valencia & 15th or so?
@A Paul D – i want you to love me. i really do.
what do i need to change to make you fall madly in love with me?
zinzin! Dude. tooooootally awesome.
i think this is actually a precise and complete list of exactly what the neighborhood needs. this would make everything sooo much cooler! and sorta, uh… cultural.
actually, i think this is the best post re developing the Mission ever.
just to articulate further…
i think all of these shops could have fronts made out of the same sculpted antique wood, have the same shape of hand-carved antique sign, with the same one 3- or 4-syllable anachronistic word in their names. they could also all give coupons for the others. and have the same gilded window trim. and quilted Tyrian purple seat cushions.
actually, esp. with coupons, one’s entire day could be mapped out by connecting these stores, and exploring permutations of the order of visits could occupy several years of bohemian time.
the kids store could offer steampunk perambulators and mini-penny-farthings. could also be daycare/preschool. kids get to dress up while at daycare/preschool.
“Mission Hash” could also serve workingman’s breakfast. there needs to be a place that serves oatmeal and guinness for breakfast.
and dude, the chinese could be a brandy ho’s extension (great dan-dan noodles, onion cakes and home-smoked hunan pork) with a “Tientsin 1928″ theme that sorta corresponds through global spheres of influence to the Steampunk Kids/Tea, Holmes & Moriarty Baker St. Apothecary, and Euro-Cig/Mag shops.
there needs to be one of these places where port and sherry are served at 4 or 5 pm. tea, then port.
maeve – newsbeat rules! you can get a mag, walk over to ice krimski, get ice cream in a cup, and walk up to mishka’s, and sit outside and enjoy an affogato while reading your magazine. with zinzin’s complete proposal, valencia street would offer the same leisurely diversions.
How about a place to hang yourself (for suicides).
Jeremy Hatch,
I just caught that a comic/coffee shop is opening soon on Valencia & Mission. Maybe that is too far out of the way.
a 1940′s Woolworth counter?!?! you’re freekin kidding, right? You really want to see black people denied service at a trendy Valencia Street eatery?
@raimondo – that’s absolutely NOT what i was thinking.
i don’t think ANYONE would want that, and i don’t think it’s appropriate to joke about it (or about suicide, for that matter).
that said, from your perspective, ALL of those “period” ideas i put forward (all of which were meant to be a joke) could be cast in a racist light. civil rights weren’t so well advanced in a 50′s malt shoppe, or in victorian england, or during the depression.
hell, pretty much anything referring to any time before…when? never? even up to today?…could be cast in a racist light.
if i’ve offended anyone in that vein, mea culpa. not my intention in any way.
I’m with Wet Blanket
It needs Slanted Door back. That phucker charles phan closed it for remodeling and then abandoned us. I’ll never step foot in his Embarcadero restaurant. Wait back up a sec, wasn’t he the first to put a serious restaurant in the Mission, way before Limon, Foreign Cinema, Delfina, Tartine, Luna, Range, etc, ad nauseum. Hmm maybe he’s the cause of all the problems. Let’s get the anti AA folks on the case right away, maybe we can have him shut down. Somebody write to Campos. Lets get the torches and pitch forks out!
PS
Oh god how could I forget Flying Saucer, now that was a pioneering restaurant. I loved Flying Saucer. I’m weepy now.
———–
zinzin wrote: i want you to love me. i really do.
what do i need to change to make you fall madly in love with me?
———–
Stop posting for a week, and that includes any/all alts, and use the time to reflect upon the contrasts between being a compassionate, empathetic and constructive person as opposed to your usual uptight, intolerant, judgmental smugness.
@Neo – i cant 100% corroborate but i seem to remember that neighborhood groups (MAC?) shut Phan down when he tried to expand to the storefront next door. funny thing about that is…inside that space is the old original Slanted Door just as he left it. now, of course, both of those stores are suitably empty & blighted.
and flying saucer i also recall. they had that guy in the back sitting on a high stool, wearing thick glasses, carving veggies with tiny knives. it really was a trailblazer at the time.
@A Paul D – changed my mind. don’t want you to love me. i’ve found another.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/fashion/26eaglerock.html
2nd paragraph says it all…
[...] Free Business Ideas Some brainstorming from reader zinzin about what Valencia Street really needs: i think we could also use a store that [...] [...]
@APaulD: I am not sure you are one to be accusing others of “uptight, intolerant, judgmental smugness”