Cole Hardware is closing SF location. Why owner is not blaming crime
It’s neither as prominent as Old Navy nor as glitzy as Nordstrom. It’s not located in a shopping mecca like Union Square. Instead, Cole Hardware’s SoMa location is emblematic of mom-and-pop Main Street. But like those bigger and better-known stores, it too is shuttering a storefront, leaving another hole in San Francisco’s retail landscape.
Cole Hardware will close its SoMa location at 345 Ninth St. on May 31, a victim of the pandemic, remote work and online shopping.
“It’s sad; this is our little neighborhood store,” said Stacey Montoya, 59, who visited the store on Thursday with a small wheeled cart to tote garden soil to her nearby home. “I like going out now and then to shop here.”
The SoMa location is half a mile from the Whole Foods Civic Center store, which closed abruptly in April, just a year after opening, citing crime and safety challenges, and drawing national attention.
“Everybody loves to punch San Francisco in the gut for shoplifting, crime, etc.,” said Rick Karp, Cole Hardware owner. “Those are all issues down here as well. But that’s not why we’re closing. We’re closing because of the economics.”
The store averages 100 to 125 customers a day, fewer on weekends. It needs at least twice that number to survive, he said.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
That particular location had always struggled to find footing and has never turned a profit, he said. When it opened in 2017, the neighborhood “was still basically depressed but there was lots of development going on in the area and lots of tech companies moving in,” he said. “We were confident we were getting into the area on the ground floor and there might be a renaissance.”
The pandemic decimated sales. As essential businesses, hardware stores stayed open throughout the shutdown but customers were scarce. When things reopened, the nearby tech workers didn’t return.
E-commerce has dealt a heavy blow as well.
“San Franciscans need to understand that the efficacy of their neighborhood shopping areas is precarious due to their addiction to Amazon,” Karp said. “You walk any neighborhood and there are vacancies galore, from the pandemic, work from home, the economy and Amazon. I think Amazon is up there as a huge factor for all retailers.”
The location does double duty as a warehouse/distribution center for Cole’s five other storefronts (four in San Francisco and one in Rockridge) and will continue to do so. Most of the dozen employees will be relocated to other Cole stores, Karp said.
Three staff members from the Rockridge Cole Hardware swung by their sister store on Thursday afternoon bearing doughnuts and support for their colleagues.
Karp had emailed customers about the closing and the Amazon impact. After receiving that message, “A lot of people came to our store and said, ‘We want to let you know we’re not shopping at Amazon; we will shop here,’ ” said Emiel Koehler, one of the Rockridge workers.
Just two blocks away from the SoMa Cole Hardware, a two-story Bed Bath and Beyond closed because of the chain’s April bankruptcy filing. A Peet’s Coffee and Chase bank branch also shuttered, leaving Trader Joe’s and a small taqueria as the only tenants in the giant 555 Ninth Street Retail Center, and further affecting local foot traffic.
“There goes the neighborhood; everything is closing,” said Pat Valay, who lives a block from the store. “It’s really a pain in the tail.” She works as a security guard at Moscone Center and can easily pop into the Cole Hardware on Fourth Street.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Cole Hardware dates to the 1920s, drawing its name from its original (and continued) location on Cole Street.
Dave Karp, Rick Karp’s father, bought that store in 1959, and he and his wife, Margie, slowly expanded it to a small chain. Rick Karp grew up working in the stores after school, as did his kids. His son, David, is now the president; his daughter, Adrianna, managed its North Beach location but now is taking time off to raise her children.
The stores make a point of community outreach, such as rewards programs, special sales events and offering free recycling for propane tanks, paint cans and fluorescent light bulbs.
Joshua Raoul Brody, a musician and a 40-year resident of Bernal Heights, said he is a big fan of the Ninth Street location.
“This is our go-to,” he said. “It really felt like a corner family store. This is a real sad indicator of what’s happening.”
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
