City leaders, merchants hail first-ever night market in San Francisco's Sunset District
SAN FRANCISCO -- The first-ever Sunset Night Market attracted crowds of people to Irving Street Friday evening and that's exactly what small business owners and city and community leaders wanted to see.
For the first time in years, Brian Cheung, who owns 1011 Sip Tea, said he saw constant lines outside his business. He had a booth set up outside his store front for the night market.
"It's great, I haven't seen them in a long time," Cheung said. "It's more people than what I actually can expect."
Cheung said business was actually better during the pandemic but he's seen a drop-off in sales this summer. He said a normal business day is slow.
"One is like, during the summer, I think people more to go out traveling, so they're leaving town. Also a lot of people doesn't want to come to San Francisco, based on what happened a lot in San Francisco."
That perception is what San Francisco supervisor Joel Engardio is trying to change in his district. He says the biggest challenges facing struggling small businesses are break-ins and graffiti.
"We are not destined for the doom loop that we read about in the news. This night market is a way to attempt to fix things," he said. "Because what's the best way to bring back our streets is to bring the community into the street and say this is our place, and we're going to have fun and we're going to be joyful."
Engardio wants the community to be safe. There was a noticeable police presence around the three-block stretch of Irving St. where some 70 merchants set up booths in addition to the restaurants and shops that stayed open. Many stayed open later than usual.
Celebrity chef Martin Yan entertained the crowd with a cooking demonstration. There were multiple stages with performers spread over three blocks. People shouted "Encore! Encore!" when the main stage band wrapped at 10 p.m.
Mayor London Breed was pleased to see the big turnout. City resources helped make Engardio's vision a reality.
"It came out of what the community wanted to see happen, to support a lot of the businesses here, to support local makers and the various folks who are providing food," Mayor Breed said. "We have a lot of great things happening all the time in San Francisco and this is just shining a light on the opportunities that could be made available for people to enjoy."
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins also showed her support.
"We want the city to know that we are invested in making sure that this is a safe city each and every day in each and every community," Jenkins said. "And the police department, my office, other city partners are working hard to make that happen."
Cheung said that, if the city continues to support small businesses in this way, it will incentivize him to keep his doors open.
"We'll try to see if anything the city will help like this to help bring up the business, otherwise a normal day is actually really slow," he said.
Friday's market was a pilot. Supervisor Engardio said the goal would be to hold it at the same location every month.