Many passersby walking along Ninth Avenue in the Inner Sunset find it hard to resist popping their faces into the cardboard cutout of a magician pulling a bunny out of a hat just outside of Misdirections Magic Shop.
Joe’s Ice Cream is located in the Central Richmond on Geary Boulevard between 18th and 19th avenues. The exterior and parklet was colorfully arranged with balloons and decorations for its 65th anniversary. Known for its homemade ice cream, Joe’s celebrated this momentous occasion by serving free birthday cake flavored ice cream to the first 1,000 customers.
That business was Maxwell Window Shades, a local fixture in the Sunset District founded by Andy’s grandparents James and Felicity Maxwell. The elder James Maxwell, a skilled painter who had helped paint the Golden Gate Bridge, first launched the family’s entrepreneurial journey by selling paint and making window shades on the side.
Settled on the corner of Balboa Street and 19th Avenue, Love Street Vintage is in the heart of the Outer Richmond. Although the storefront is tucked away from the more business-dense avenues, Love Street packs a rich history interwoven among its quaintly decorated shelves and racks of whimsically colored clothing.
In a shop window on Clement Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, a large blue robot stands guard over the entrance to the Heroes Club, with its fists in the air, ready to battle for right against wrong.
The smell of toasted cheese, warm spices and light notes of sesame beckon passersby to the Richmond District’s latest hidden gem.
This is all too common in the Richmond District and many other San Francisco neighborhoods. We need to do better as a city. It’s time for more action and less rhetoric.
But after 40 years, the iconic neighborhood ice cream shop served its last customer. Though Marco Polo plans to reopen next spring on Noriega and 46th, locals say, “it’s terrible.” John has been around since the day the shop opened until the end of its operation. “I’ve lived here for like 40 years (and I could just) go out my front door and get a cone.”
Ben Wintroub of the Sunset District’s Tunnel Records announced he will team up with Adam Bergeron in the Richmond District’s 4 Star Theater. Starting Friday, Oct. 6, Tunnel Records’ merchandise can be also purchased at the theater.
The bicycle wheels that were rolling in and out of Nomad Cyclery on Irving Street for more than 50 years came to an abrupt and unexpected stop last September when its longtime owner, Roger Cook, died of pancreatic cancer.
Nestled on the corner of Clement and Fourth Street, the Blue Danube Coffee House beckons people in with its brightly colored paint job and flowering parklet. In contrast, the interior is the definition of bohemian style – vintage furniture and eclectic decorations turn the room into a one-of-a-kind Inner Richmond gem.
Geary merchants and other neighborhood leaders will carry a coffin mourning the loss of Thom’s Natural Foods and other local businesses that have recently closed due to economic hardships.
Alex J. Sinclair, owner of the Sunset District’s charming, old-fashioned shop, Willow on the Green, which specializes is artisanal foods from the British Isles, has packed a lot of things into his 40-year-old life, before this latest passion project.
Walking into Paul’s Hat Works on Geary Boulevard in the Outer Richmond is like walking through a time portal into the past.
NOISE is a compact retail shop on the Balboa Street corridor in the Outer Richmond. Within its tiny storefront is a world full of music lives; huge sounds, rhythms, beats, melodies all coexist within these walls.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 