San Francisco Noe Valley merchants see boost in 2024 holiday season
Despite the rainy weather on the day after Christmas, many neighbors and their families are enjoying their holiday in San Francisco's Noe Valley.
Local business owners said they also saw a boost in sales this holiday season compared to this time last year.
"These are all vintage antique pieces, this went on a horse 100 years ago. You'd lay the back of the horse with blankets, put this on it. Then they would carry their luggage on here," Dona Taylor, owner of When Modern Was, told CBS News Bay Area.
Taylor owns a repurposed vintage furniture and antique store on the corner of 24th and Noe streets. She said she's seen more foot traffic this year.
"This year I'm up, which I almost fell off my chair. I was like, what? How did that happen? And I think a lot of it is because people are just sick and tired of white and gray and they really want something more unique," Taylor said.
She has been in business for 15 years in Noe Valley, but said that her block faced many economic challenges.
"I made it through COVID, we lost 14 stores in Noe Valley. We lost all our shoe stores, all our clothing stores, our cheese store, our jewelry store, I mean I can go on," Taylor said.
Taylor also added that skyrocketing rent also deters more new businesses from coming in.
"It's scary. Right? If you're going to open a store, and you want to sell a pair of jeans, but your rent's $25,000 a month, how are you going to sell your jeans at $50?" Taylor asked.
Just a few steps away, one new local business owner braved those potential challenges.
"We came out with this line of San Francisco products this fall. So, it's nine different seasonings based on nine different neighborhoods in San Francisco. And we spent all summer working on these. We've had so many customers over the past couple of years asking if we had anything that was San Francisco-themed," Phuong Mai, the owner of Perfectly Seasoned, told CBS News Bay Area.
Mai opened his store in Noe Valley about two years ago, and has nearly 400 different spices from all over the world.
"Housemade seasonings, these are things we developed in house, our own recipes, there are some things you can't get anywhere else, things like this Moroccan Rose," Mai said.
The local spice store is bringing in returning customers from all over the city.
"We try to come in even though we live on the other side of the city to support him because we love their spices," Amy Pollock, a customer, told CBS News Bay Area.
"We need local businesses, generally speaking, they have just great products. And the old adage, you get what you paid for, and you get really good products I believe at local businesses," she added.
As for Mai, he said their business this year has been even better than last.
"We were pretty new still last year, and this year we had a lot more recognition, a lot more people coming out. And I think this year also, there were just more people willing to spend? So yeah, we had a really good holiday season compared to last year," he said.
Back at When Modern Was, Taylor said that despite the economic challenges, it's the passion and the community that push her to keep doing what she loves.
"I do it because I love it. I don't pay myself a lot but I pay myself enough to manage the store and give a few hours to my workers who are all 65 years young," she said.
