San Francisco's downtown legacy businesses in need of holiday shopping boost

SAN FRANCISCO – Some of San Francisco’s legacy businesses downtown say they are seeing a slight increase in shoppers, as the city goes all out this holiday season to draw more people to Union Square and the surrounding area to shop and dine. 
 
“I’ve felt safe the few days I’ve been here. It’s very walkable,” said Alex Eddings, a tourist visiting from Nashville.

“All the Christmas stuff and ice skating, it’s been really lovely,” Nereah Aluoch, who was traveling with Eddings, said.

As shoppers try to get their holiday gifts, stores such as Jeffrey’s Toy Store at the corner of Kearny and Maiden Lane, are facing a different kind of race against the clock.

“My Dad, who is 74, has put his entire life into this store,” the store’s co-owner Matthew Luhn said.

Luhn is the fourth generation working in his family’s toy store business, which first opened in the Bay Area in 1938 and launched four stores in San Francisco in 1966. Luhn says coming out of the pandemic, his father made a big bet, buying time with the hope that they could hang on until shoppers came back.

“He has taken all of his retirement money, everything that he had left for retirement, out of his 401k to put into the toy store every year to make up for when we couldn’t make the payments. And then he took a loan out against his house,” Luhn said.

Traditional stores such as Jeffrey’s Toy Store are struggling to stay afloat with fewer office workers downtown, more competition from online shopping options, and with the city’s issues battling homelessness and crime creeping into retail areas.

Matthew says the family’s store has been an inspiration for him pursuing his own dreams.

“Worked at Pixar. Ended up working on all the Toy Story films for 20 years. That happened because my dad was someone who was supporting and loving and creative,” Luhn said, fondly recounting how his dad allowed his Pixar colleagues to come into the store and play with the toys as they prepared for the film.

It’s a critical time for Jeffrey’s and other legacy businesses that make San Francisco’s downtown unique.

“For a business like Gumps that’s been part of the fabric of San Francisco for over 160 years, it’s really hard to walk away from something that you helped build,” Marc Capalbo, Gump’s Vice-President of retail operations said, standing inside the Gump’s holiday store on Post Street.

Loyal customers say they can’t imagine the city without these legacy stores.

“My husband and I registered here for our wedding,” Dianne Sprott of Sacramento said, as she picked up a purchase with her husband at Gumps, “I come every year, normally come with my daughter and pick out ornaments.”

Other stores are also hoping the city will continue drawing shoppers downtown and keeping streets safe.

“This store has been here for over 30 years, but we’ve been in San Francisco for over eighty,” Taylor Enstall, an employee at Samuel Scheuer Fine Linens, said.

“I believe our street is a lot more safe, especially with our new lieutenant coming around our ambassadors  
that make a weekly stop in,” Enstall said, referring to their location on Sutter Street and the enhanced safety measures the city has been taking.

“Well, we’re betting on it right now,” Capalbo said about the city. “We have extended our lease, and we are going to continue to work hard and to keep those in charge, especially our city leadership, accountable.”