Mission Mission

While I don’t think this news factored at all in their decision to abandon plans to open a store in the old Adobe Books location, it’s still kind of funny.

After just two years on the market, Kate Spade Saturday — Kate Spade‘s lower-priced, more casual offshoot — is closing all 19 of its stores. Jack Spade, Kate Spade & Company’s 22-year-old menswear brand, is also shuttering all 12 of its stores. Stores will close gradually over the first half of 2015, and Kate Spade Saturday’s e-commerce site will remain active during that time.

[Link, Photo]

(Thanks Raun!)

Yeah, the “Jack Off” movement. You know, to stop Fifth & Pacific’s upscale menswear chain, not the other kind of jack, how dare you think I was making a lewd inference in order to get you to read yet another article about this company. Both Ammiano and former President of the Board of Supervisors Matt Gonzalez support a new appeal. The two are authors of the formula retail ordinance, and believe that the company has acted in bad faith, not holding a hearing and muscling their way in through technicalities.

But they love our gentrification!

Andy Blue sends in the press release, describing the next steps to keep the shop out of the Mission. Full text after the jump:

JACK SPADE OPPONENTS RETURN FIGHT TO CITY HALL
WITH EXPANDING SUPPORT FROM POLS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS

Author of formula retail ballot measure, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano:
“Jack Spade has operated in bad faith”


Matt Gonzalez, Aaron Peskin; Supes Campos, Avalos,
and Mar support the appeal.

SAN FRANCISCO –– Backed by the original drafters of San Francisco’s formula retail ordinance, the coalition fighting to stop designer menswear line, Jack Spade, from opening a new store in the Mission District, heads to City Hall this Wednesday, October 9 (City Hall, Room 416, 5:00pm) to request a rehearing before the Board of Appeals.

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This is reader Emory E., putting forth another perspective. Thanks, Emory!

YouTube user Kyle Smeallie uploaded a video from Jack Spade’s hearing in front of the Board of Appeals where Melissa Xides, Vice President of Global Sales and Retail at Jack Spade, remarked not only that they fell in love with the gentrification of the Mission, but also the “uniqueness and character”, which they apparently now intend to help erode. Note the nice little remix at the end.

Andy writes in to let us know that tomorrow (Wednesday, 8/14) is a big hearing to “call a Spade a Spade: Jack Spade/Kate Spade is one big company”.  He reiterates that he’s in for a public debate that we (Mission Mission) will run if there are any commenters who oppose the actions to block Jack Spade and are willing to publicly stand up for what they believe.

You can follow the story of the opposition here.

The press release after the jump.

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[Not actual sign design by Steven Weinberg]

There’s some healthy debate going on in the post about the movement to keep Jack Spade out of the Mission, but there’s no doubt that our buddy Leef Smith, owner of Mission: Comics & Art, is the real deal. A San Francisco native, Leef is dedicated to maintaining a community space to show art, create art and of course talk about, read, discover and buy comics. Now he’s asking for our help to raise some funds to build a new sign so people can spot the store more easily.

He’s looking good on getting his goal, but if you really want to kick this starter into gear you can sign up for your own event at the store!

You’ve probably heard that Adobe Books had to leave their 16th Street location recently, and relocated to a new location on 24th Street. You’ve probably also heard that Jack Spade, an upscale retail store that is a spin off of Kate Spade which is a subsidiary of Liz Claiborne, was planning to move into Adobe’s old location well before Adobe had even publicly conceded to leaving. (For reference, check out Kevin’s reporting here)

Well, a bunch of “Valencia Corridor” businesses are opposing Jack Spade as a formula retailer brand from a multinational company, and therefore not a part of the Mission community. The opening of a store like this will pave the way for more companies to take root in the neighborhood, and push out the local businesses. Makes sense to me.

I’d also add that they really only appeal to a certain kind of well moneyed, overly groomed young urban professional scenester, but that’s pretty much the Valencia Corridor in a nutshell.

Anyway, you can sign their petition here, and the event should be fun, with proceeds going to “support the Stop Jack Spade campaign”.

Anyone walking down Valencia over the past few days has to have noticed these posters going up on storefront windows of local merchants, and now there’s a petition being circulated to try to convince the luxury boutique that this neighborhood isn’t really a good fit for them. Unfortunately, almost all legal options to prevent Jack Spade from moving in have been exhausted, as the store just barely evades the label of “formula retail” by being only one store under the threshold.

Although Jack Spade is set to begin their lease on June 15, no one knows when they plan to move in, and the company has been ominously silent on the matter. We’ll just have to wait and see if they can take the hint, but in the meantime expect a lot more attention to this issue!

While Adobe Books has fortunately managed to find a new home on 24th Street, the question of Liz Clairborne-backed Jack Spade moving into their former location still remains.  Among those opposed to the technicality-skirting men’s boutique is the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association (VCMA), who went to the Department of Building Inspection yesterday to log a complaint against the plans of Jack Spade to open up a 10th store on the Valencia Corridor.  Jefferson, Vice President of the VCMA, explains their case:

They had 7 stores when they applied for a LOD (Letter of Determination) from the Planning Department. Planning confirmed that they were not formula retail at the time but cautioned that if they opened up 3 more stores their status would change.

Next week the VCMA will finalize and submit a letter to the planning department to express the business communities’ opposition to their presence on the Valencia corridor.

Rumor also has it that Jack Spade craftily attempted to partner with Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia in an effort to establish some neighborhood clout, but that the non-profit writing center turned them down.  It’s still too early to say how the city will respond, but could this situation unfold the same way as the Valencia American Apparel that never was?

[Photo via UA]

The Secret Alley (where I am a co-founder) is an art space here in the neighborhood. A Kickstarter has just been launched to remake the dull lobby into a sweet space to show of the work of local talent, The Galallery, also to be known as The Typoe Gallery.

The Secret Alley is a strange and maybe magical place where people build things, make movies, paint, screen things, make presentations, play and generally have a good time making and doing weird stuff. It’s hard to describe and I do it no justice by trying.

For the past few years there have been Halloween installations in the lobby downstairs, maybe you saw the Death Ray, where you could use the interface to blow up local hot spots (the subwoofer under the seat really made you feel like you might just poop):

Or the hallway monster the year before, which was just part of a larger dungeon theme:

There have also been some other art shows in the lobby, but the space does nothing to showcase the work. It’s not inspiring. It’s not amazing. It’s lame. Just as we brought our talented friends together to build the 360º old alleyway set, now it’s time to build out the lobby. When we started building The Alley seven years ago we did it on our own dimes, but it’s still costing us, and we kind of don’t have the dimes to expand. Plus we want to pay our friends fairly for their time. They’re really good at what they do. That’s where you come in.

If you’ve ever enjoyed spending some time there, or if you want to, or even if it’s not your cup of tea, please consider helping the talented crew create an amazing space to showcase local work. There are some really cool perks you can get for your contribution, including having the place to yourself for a night for you and your friends (pitch in together and have a grand time!). We don’t have the money of Jack Spade NYC, but we want to keep cool places in our hood!

Check out the Kickstarter here!

Please share with your friends, followers, readers, likers and hangers-on!