Doc’s Clock moving forward — to new Mission Street digs
May 24, 2017
Time is ticking for the Mission’s beloved Doc’s Clock – in its current location, at least.
Mission Mission reported Tuesday that there were just 10 more days before the bar shuts its doors at 2575 Mission Street, a timeline that was confirmed in an email to CSC from the bar’s owner, Carey Suckow. Suckow said that the bar will close at its current location on June 3, and, if everything goes as planned, reopen at 2417 Mission St. on July 1.
The bar, which is moving because the owner of the current building decided not to renew Suckow’s lease, is already taking shape at its new location near 20th Street.
No word yet on whether Doc’s will take its iconic sign with it. When I emailed Suckow last month, she said she was still negotiating with the building’s new owner, who wants to keep the sign there. I sent Suckow an email Tuesday asking for an update on the sign issue but have not heard back yet.
[Top photo by Sean Davis/Flickr. Second photo via Doc’s Facebook Page]
Couching this in strong terms: Delusional.
May 23, 2017
If trying to offload your slobber-stained mattress through NextDoor wasn’t bad enough, a guy named Alex is hoping to sell his couch for a tidy sum after abandoning it at 15th and Dolores streets.
A sign taped to the furniture requests a mere $450 in exchange for the bright red sofa’s currently missing cushions. Friend of CSC Josh said the couch has been there for days before he added his own commentary on Monday.
Unbelievable offer aside, I’m going to guess the couch is still available – and properly seasoned.
[Photos by ellngsn]
See where this is headed
May 15, 2017
Capp Street is the worst babysitter. Seriously.
Nice rack! BART installing new system to thwart bike thefts
May 8, 2017
BART is considering high-tech means to ensure its riders’ locked bikes stay put.
The transit agency is getting ready to test out a new high-security bike rack inside the 16th and Mission station that will allow users to secure their bikes with a swipe of their Clipper cards. A solar-powered version of the system is also being installed outside the Pleasant Hill station.
Billed as better than u-locks, the Bikeep system is equipped with an alarm and an electronic alert, both of which are triggered if someone tries to steal the bike, as well as a galvanized steel bar that locks to the frame and wheel.
“We’ll get feedback from users and see how they perform in the field,” Steve Beroldo, BART’s manager for access programs, wrote in an email.
“Theft is a concern at all BART stations and pretty much anywhere else in the Bay Area where one leaves a bike parked for significant periods of time,” he added. “BART has a number of programs and policies in place to try and deter theft.”
The smart racks will have 10 spaces that are free to use but available on a first-come, first-served basis. Users will be required to first do a quick one-time registration online.
BART is still finishing up some signage, an instructional video and some electrical work, but the project should go live sometime before the end of the month, Beroldo said.
Window treatment
May 3, 2017
The writing is on the fence.
[Photo via Melinda]
Cock-a-doodle eww
April 18, 2017
Water wasn’t the only thing falling on Capp Street yesterday — it was raining dicks as well.
Hours after yours truly snapped the above photo near 17th and Capp streets on Monday morning, a reader spotted a wayward dong braving traffic outside an elementary school nearly two blocks away.
So many questions. Did one of the 17th Street dildos migrate north, and OMG WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Suffice to say, this is hardly the first dicking around we’ve seen.
Look who’s back. Sunflower’s Valencia side reopened
April 17, 2017
Closed for more than three years, Sunflower’s Valencia Street space is finally back. A walk by the restaurant Friday night found 506 Valencia’s Street’s neon sign lit once again and the Vietnamese restaurant full of customers. One of the servers told me the restaurant reopened more than a week ago.
Sunflower shut its doors in September 2014 with no explanation, leading many to wonder whether that was it for the restaurant, a neighborhood favorite for cheap, good Vietnamese food. A few months later, ‘Pan Asia’ was added to the Valencia Street sign and the tinier, adjoining portion of the restaurant, which has its entrance on 16th Street, reopened about a year later.
Croak joke: Mission ‘frog sanctuary’ quietly dedicated
April 16, 2017
The fact that frogs — or maybe just one very noisy one — moved into the watery pit that was once a three-story apartment building and indoor shopping plaza at 22nd and Mission streets has been an endless source of neighborhood amusement. Now, one prankster has taken the comedy a step further — by placing a plaque to mark the so-called “Mission Memorial Frog Sanctuary.”
The plaque, which a neighbor tells me showed up on the fence surrounding the property at least a week ago, pays respect to the businesses and residents who lost their home in a January 2015 four-alarm fire. It also weaves an alliteration-laden tale about the frogs and their err, resurrection. Just in time for Easter.
“Pilot” for Mission-themed ‘94110’ debuts
April 3, 2017
Back in 2015, fliers popped up in the neighborhood advertising a casting call for a supposed pilot about “six leading technology executives living, learning and loving together in San Francisco’s Mission District.” KQED pegged it as a possible prank, and well it quite likely is one, but now you get to see the end product – if you can stomach it.
New fliers went up around the Mission last week – awfully close to April Fool’s Day – advertising the debut of “94110.” The show’s pilot, complete with a disarming laugh track, was uploaded to YouTube on April 2. I found it quite painful to watch but, hey, judge for yourself.
Submitted photo of “94110” flier with editorial comment.
[Photo via Jeff]
Thrifty town no more. San Francisco’s beloved Thrift Town is gone
March 29, 2017
A victim of increased costs and slumping sales, Thrift Town has closed its doors after 45 years.
On Tuesday, Mission Mission broke the news that the beloved Mission thrift store, 2101 Mission at 17th Street, was closing citing a tipster who said Thrift Town’s last day of business was Friday. However, the store ended up shuttering days earlier, sometime on Wednesday.
A visit to the store around 5:30 p.m. found a small group of people standing outside Thrift Town’s locked front gate lamenting the store’s loss and reading a note from the management posted in the front window. Fliers reading “I left my heart at Thrift Town San Francisco” were plastered on the front and a man who showed up and said he was an employee there to pick up his final check.
Management’s type note, which lists an initial closing date of the 31st that was crossed out and replaced with the 29th, said the management worked with the landlord, who gave them a rent reduction, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for lagging sales.
“The retail landscape is changing drastically and despite our exhaustive efforts to meet the on-going challenges of increased costs and declining sales, we are unable [to] generate the sales necessary to sustain our long-standing business in San Francisco. We have fought hard to save our beautiful San Francisco store because we deeply believe in our people, our community and our mission” the note reads.
“The building’s ownership has been very helpful and has tried very hard to work with us on ways to keep our doors open including a rent reduction. However insufficient sales and increasing external costs made Thrift Town’s situation unsustainable.”
Here is the whole message from Thrift Town management:
It is with heavy heart that we share that Thrift Town – San Francisco is closed as of 3/29/2017. Thrift Town is a 45-year-old family business that is fully committed to our shared vision of making a difference every day.
We have probably been a part of the San Francisco community since 1972, and we are grateful for each and every customer who has shopped our fabulous two-story, iconic Thrift Town store located in the heart of the Mission District. The memories are many and nobody is sadder than us.
The retail landscape is changing drastically and despite our exhaustive efforts to meet the on-going challenges of increased costs and declining sales, we are unable [to] generate the sales necessary to sustain our long-standing business in San Francisco. We have fought hard to save our beautiful San Francisco store because we deeply believe in our people, our community and our mission.
The building’s ownership has been very helpful and has tried very hard to work with us on ways to keep our doors open including a rent reduction. However insufficient sales and increasing external costs made Thrift Town’s situation unsustainable.
Thrift Town is not going out of business. Its five additional California locations, including two in the East Bay and three in the Sacramento area, will remain open. Thrift Town also has stores in Texas and New Mexico which continue to thrive. Thrift Town’s San Francisco employees will be encouraged to apply for positions in one of our other locations should that option suit their circumstances.
We greatly appreciate the dedication of our crew and the loyalty of the San Francisco community over these past four and a half decades. Together, we have truly made an impact on our local community by keeping millions of pounds of usable items out of our local landfills, and helping to raise over 23 million dollars of much-needed funding for our local nonprofit partners, past and present including The Arc San Francisco, Life-house, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Bay Area.
We will miss San Francisco, our crew, customers and community greatly. We salute everyone for their time, commitment, dedication and loyalty to Thrift Town over the past many years.
Sincerely,
Thrift Town Management
Norquist Salvage Corporation.