San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman were in the Castro Wednesday morning to remind the public to shop local as Small Business Saturday approaches.
It’s all part of The City’s Shop and Dine in the 49 program, which encourages shoppers to stay in The City and make purchases and eat at local small businesses instead of at retail chains or through online stores.
Breed, at a local home décor shop called Stag and Manor, said:
“You can go to almost any neighborhood in San Francisco and discover something that you never saw before.”
The mayor’s attention in the Castro comes on the heels of a Nov. 16 four-alarm fire that caused heavy damage to four businesses in the area. Breed handed out checks to the small businesses impacted, including Osaka Sushi, Q-Bar, Café Mystique and apparel store Body.
In the wake of the destructive fire, Breed directed the Office of Economic Workforce and Development to activate The City’s Small Business Disaster Relief Fund to help replace inventory and equipment and provide relief for new lease security deposits and employee salaries.
Mandelman, who represents the Castro neighborhood in District 8, echoed the mayor’s call support the area’s small businesses.
Mandelman said:
“It is so easy to go online and buy that thing. I ask, I hope, that San Franciscans, if you love your neighborhoods, if you love your neighborhood small businesses, take a break on the online purchase. Go out and actually support the neighborhood small business.”
In a safety reminder for visitors and residents shopping over the holiday season, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said:
“Lock your car. Don’t leave anything visible in your car. If you have merchandise and you can’t carry with you, put it in your trunk.”
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
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