Where's my big Borders or Barnes & Noble?
There are barely any of the major book stores in San Francisco because of the anti-business local government. While it is a great idea to support your local small business the fact is that most of us want the choice that only a Barnes & Noble or a Safeway supermarket brings with its massive scale. I see lots of local bookstores and the larger chains thriving side by side in NYC so maybe there is a place for both kinds of businesses to coexist.
And if not, then it should be the consumers' choise whether they help a small business thrive or force a large chain to close down due to a lack of customers. But Matt Gonzalez, the most recent candidate for SF Mayor goes one step backwards according to this San Francisco Chronicle story, inspired by Los Gatos, my new home town. Sheesh.
The bill takes aim at "formula retail businesses" -- companies with four or more stores that have such similar characteristics as merchandise, employee uniforms, signs and logos. Gonzalez already introduced legislation that focuses on coffee stores and pharmacies, such as Starbucks and Walgreens.
Deputy City Attorney Sarah Ellen Owsowitz, who helped draft the new bill, said it was modeled after similar laws in Los Gatos and Coronado (San Diego County).
Battles over chain stores and restaurants have a long history in San Francisco. In 1995, Blockbuster video store was blocked from opening in the Inner Sunset. Three years later, Borders bookstore lost its bid to open on Union Street in the Marina District. Burger King opened an outlet in the Inner Sunset in 1996 after a long run-in with neighbors, and Home Depot cleared a key hurdle at City Hall last year in its ongoing bid to open on Bayshore Boulevard, with surrounding neighborhoods bitterly divided over the project.
"Now is not the time to make it more difficult for businesses to come in and do business in San Francisco," said Lee Blitch, CEO and president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.