11 posts tagged “tower”
The devolution of Castro businesses back into the 70's continues. I actually stumbled away from my sickbed on Friday long enough to run some errands, and found myself right in the middle of the outdoor filming that was going on that day. From about midway between 18th and 19th all the way up to 19th, both sides of Castro Street were lined with retro cars, and extras in period garb were out in clusters on the sidewalks. There may have been actual heaven-sent stars present too, but I was too Nyquil-addled to tell.
At right are two crappy photos I was able to snap before security told me to put away my camera. The SFist blog has a similar picture without all the extras, so they probably took it during a break in filming.
A friend of mine who is a car-enthusiast surmised that some of these vehicles were from the local Freewheelers auto club. Does anyone know if this is true? I have my doubts since many of the antique cars were a little banged up and didn't look like anyone's babies. I loved the cranberry-colored VW bug that putted by at regular intervals, and I also loved seeing the old black and yellow California license plates from my youth.
Here's how some other businesses have transformed since my last update:
- Swirl has completely transformed inside and out, and it joins Given as being the only two stores which seem to be dislocated by the filming. The Gaycities.com blog has an interior shot which gives a better idea of the extent of the transformation. Here's an exterior shot of the finished storefront, along with a shot of the inside shelves taken through the front window. Like those prices?
The photo below is a sign which sits in the Swirl window. Apparently one significant story from Harvey Milk's life was that the Eureka Valley Merchants Association refused to cooperate with gay-owned businesses, so Milk started the rival Castro Village Association which eventually spawned the Castro Street Fair. The sign says "Eureka Valley Merchants Society" instead of "Association," so I wonder if the name was changed for legal reasons.
- Clobba's sign is now up, and the store has been renamed "The Valet" with windows full of too-hip clothing.
A helpful reader (who might be enticed to post to share her historical knowledge--please?) pointed out that this was not actually a clothing store in this spot, but rather a hair salon. I guess it wasn't in the budget for a total makeover on this store.
- Here is a slightly closer picture of the retro-looking mimeographed fliers that they have stapled over the former First American Title Company.
- Best in Show has now branched out to "shoe repairing."
- Further up the street between 18th and Market, the Toad Hall is now complete.
- But next door, the Citibank facade is undergoing a much more extensive makeover. There is a faint suggestion of a Victorian-ish overlay being built, but I can't say for sure. This will be interesting to watch develop.
- Hot Cookie is now Double Rainbow Ice Cream, and the other shops along here are getting ready for some changes. The bus shelter was removed from the sidewalk.
- Louie's removed its spiffy neon rings, and Marcello's has taken down its awning to reveal that retro-looking sign. (Yes, that was always there. It wasn't created for the filming.)
- US Bank is now Eureka Federal Savings.
- Castro Nail Salon is now taking in laundry.
- The big rainbow flag is down at Castro and Market, and all of the smaller rainbow banners are off the light poles. The MUMC president, Steve Adams, told the B.A.R. that new flags and banners will go up after the filming.
- The Castro Theatre sign is near completion, and they are lighting up the neon at night.
- Random oddity: They brought in new trash cans as set dressing. I've heard that they also disguised the parking meters to make them look era-appropriate, but I didn't see that firsthand.
- Finally, the production has taken over the old Tower space. The lower floor looks like it is being readied as the holding pen and feeding trough for the large crowds of extras that they are collecting for the march scenes.
The upper floor seems to be filled with a thrift-store of clothing racks and shoe bins, so this seems to be their costuming area.
- Film crew descends on Castro, and
- Harvey County, USA, an interview with two of the producers.
Well, 3 old Briefs, actually. During my period of blog-silencing "extreme exhaustion" I had 3 columns come out which I never linked here. If you always turn past the news directly to the escort ads and you didn't see the articles online, here is a rundown of the topics that I covered:
- Gustofino Fine Foods opened on Church Street in the spot previously occupied by the Just Desserts;
- Mr. Martini's popular "Behind the Bar Show" podcast helps to promote his private bartending business;
- The Industrialists, a home furnishings shop which salvages industrial equipment, opened on Market Street;
- Too Much Fun Halloween Headquarter brought its seasonal store to the old Tower Videos spot, just in time for the Castro's canceled Halloween non-celebration;
- The SF LGBT Center sponsored a job fair for LGBT job seekers.
- Given, on the site of Harvey Milk's old camera shop, commissioned a mural of the civil rights pioneer;
- A new bar opened on the site of the old Metro, on the second floor above 16th and Market -- at publication time it was as yet unnamed, but it has since been christened Lookout; (not The Lookout, just Lookout)
- A delegation led by Sidney's daddy Bevan Dufty will be representing San Francisco at sister-city Sydney's 30th anniversary Mardi Gras celebration in March, 2008;
- Local, troubled, homophile company PlanetOut sponsored a short movie contest;
- The GGBA held their monthly mixer.
- Under One Roof announced plans for their holiday store in the old Tower Videos location;
- Urban Bread cafe and bread distributor (gosh that sounds appetizing!) opened where Bean Here Brew That! was previously located;
- Castro Cafe was preparing to move into the old Bull's Head spot;
- A rundown of Thanksgiving choices, both dine-in and take-out;
- Orphan Andy's turned 30 (just as I will soon);
- Lookout (just Lookout, not The Lookout) announced its winning name.
Some rumors I've heard recently:
- According to a friend who spoke with Milton, the host/waiter/flirtatious little thing of Harvey's, the place is scheduled to open on May 14th. Now that date is just a handful of days away, and a quick peek through a window last weekend showed that a lot of work still needs to be done before they are in the bloody mary and curly fries business again. But hey, the sooner the better, so if they are shooting for next Monday to open, more power to them.
- The owner of Gym San Francisco on Market supposedly has said that the front-runner for moving into the old Tower Records space is Crunch Gym, the national chain with an attitude. This was a new one to me, but it might explain the increased level of Crunch advertising in the local gay rags and in the Castro MUNI station.
It would be a little disappointing to have yet another gym move in -- Crunch would be the fourth gym in a three-block stretch of Market -- but a gym would also bring a lot of foot traffic and would undoubtedly help the stores and cafes on that block quite a bit. On the down side, I'm not sure the economy can support four gyms, and probably the most vulnerable is the only locally-owned one, Gym San Francisco. - This is totally unsubstantiated, but I've heard that one business tactic in the neighborhood is for a restaurant or bar owner to buy a competitor, and then never reopen that newly-purchased business. The purpose? To claim the competitor's restaurant or bar license (both limited items in the 'hood), remove one more potential competitor, and drive more traffic to the original business. It seems a little far-fetched -- after all, those empty properties cost rent and/or property tax -- but looking at all the idling storefronts it starts seeming a little more believable.
- Does it count as a rumor if it is reported in the B.A.R.? In last week's issue our neighborhood Jimmy Olsen, Matthew Bajko, reported that Magnet health services is going to be combining with the Stonewall Project and San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Magnet currently occupies a storefront on 18th next to the parking lot, but now larger digs are in order, with the old Patio Cafe space and former Tower Records space as two front-runners.
I would hate to see the Patio space turned into offices, but if the front part could be made into a large, welcoming area open to the street and used for parties, fund-raisers, and other activities, then this could be a potentially welcome addition to that block.
More updates on construction in the 'hood:
- The old Tower space is clean as a whistle now, with all of the non-support walls removed, exposing the space all of the way into what was previously back storage. The photo on the right is the upstairs space (the old CD section) and the photo on the left is the downstairs (formerly the DVD section).
- This was another shot that I sneaked through the propped-open front door of Harvey's. You can see that the new bar is being built from the ground up, and it is straight instead of the chevron shape it was before. Actually, this photo was taken on March 24, so the place is probably much more finished now.
- Here is the Chocolate Store, shaping up nicely. You can see the chocolate brown walls, cute awnings over the shelving, and the chandeliers which are of Castro-grade fabulousness. (There is a second chandelier right in front of the front window which I couldn't get a clean shot of.)
- The paper finally came off of Zadin's windows and it looks pretty much like it looked when it was Malacca. They are apparently open now, but only for dinner. I went by on the weekend during lunch and it was closed, so I can't give a first-hand review just yet.
- Salon Enzi is up and operating in its new space, the former home of Eureka. They did a nice job. There is still no sign up, so I'm wondering if he'll move the concept from his previous space: Clear letters "E N Z I" cut out of a painted blue field in the window, with colored lights behind each letter.
More Tower-related stuff:
- The Under One Roof gourmet food sale is in full swing in the downstairs space (formerly the Tower Video store) and as the weekend draws to a close they will start lowering the prices. Already yesterday they had halved the prices on drinks, so there are values to be had there.
Additionally, they are getting ready for their next event -- the gift sale based on donations from the San Francisco International Gift Fair which is going on now. The sale will be taking place March 2 through March 4 in the old Tower space, but I'm sure they will have a volunteer pre-sale day as they've done in the past.
And speaking of volunteers! They are looking for people to help with picking up donations from the Moscone Center this week at the following times: Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 3:15 pm and Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 11:15 am. If you are interested, contact Stephen at 415-503-2313 or stephen@underoneroof.org.
- And when it comes to rumors of this space's future, I'm totally the B.A.R.'s bitch. In the latest "Business Briefs" column they report that Trader Joe's is not entirely out of the picture, and that another potential tenant is in the picture, Mitchell Gold, a purveyor of furniture and decor. The B.A.R. says that they are gay-owned, which goes far to explain why the dresser featured on their home page is called "The Prince Albert."
I've been meaning to post this for days, but last week's B.A.R. reported that the rumors that Cost Plus would move into the old Tower space are not true after all. Apparently Cost Plus is having financial problems that is blocking new store openings. Instead, the article reports that an office supply store such as Office Depot or Staples is considering opening a mini-version of their store there.
If we're going the paper-and-ink direction, I'd much rather see Flax move in, but I guess this is probably too close to their Valencia & Market location.
Alternatively, what about Trader Joe's? Their plans for the current Dulux Paint building seem to have fallen through, so why not the old Tower space? At least it has a little parking in back.
This is somewhat old news, but Tower finally rolled up their welcome mat and closed down shop. Here is how the space looks now, outside:
and inside:
They were selling the fixtures too, but a fair number of them are still there in the store, so I wonder if those will be auctioned off to pay creditors.
One interesting note on the future of this site: In the current Eureka Valley Promotion Association newsletter there is this quote:
Currently UMA [The Upper Market Association] is seeking input from the member groups on the Tower Records site, which will be a chain store allowable under Planning rules. The owners have state a desire to be in sync with what the neighborhood wants to see there -- or doesn't want.
The phrasing of this passage is interesting, because it makes it sound as if the next tenant of this site is definitely a chain store, but more likely it was just sloppy writing. Still, it will be interesting to see what will move into two of the largest retail spaces in the neighborhood.
Tower update: The CDs are now 60% off and the DVDs are 50% off. CD singles are 75% off, and a fair number of random CDs are just $1.50 or $2.00. I was there on Thursday when there was still a fair selection of artists and titles that you've actually heard of before, but I imagine that at this price point things will dry up quickly. One of the most interesting aspects of this is wondering how Tower ended up with such large quantities of certain titles. Some are obviously records that they thought would go big but which bombed (Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" anyone?) but did they really think they needed a few dozen copies of Huey Lewis and the News' "Grestest Hits"?
Well, a drop in CD price, at least. I drove past Tower Records and Tower Movies tonight, and the signs now say that everything is 40% to 60% off. I haven't been inside yet, but my guess is that pretty much all of the CDs and DVDs are now 40%, and just some odd categories are at the greater discount level.
So time for some bargain Christmas shopping! This year, everyone gets direct-import Kylie Minogue CD singles!
The Tower Records clearance discount is down to 30-60%. What this means of course is the vast majority of CDs and DVDs are 30% off, and only a smattering of things (magazines, CD singles) are at the higher discount levels.
But at 30% off this is getting to be cheaper than Amazon with free shipping, so I imagine that the stock will start going faster now. The stores are still remarkably full of merchandise.
