View Single Post
  #203  
Old Posted Feb 13, 2014, 7:02 PM
austlar1 austlar1 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Austin
Posts: 3,428
[QUOTE=migol24;6448107]No it's not. Its pegged as such for tourists, and no different than any other place. All the locals don't appreciate that all the chains have virtually driven all of the locally owned retail businesses. Of the very few that remain, Gump's is one of them. Union Square is just like any other part of shopping district in America and not uniquely San Francisco.

Here I disagree. Plenty of local SF residents shop Macy's, Nordstrom's, Sak's, Neiman-Marcus, and Barney's in downtown SF. They also patronize smaller chain operations. My point is that these stores may be branches of national chains, but they are very, very good versions of the brand. They are larger than most branches and known to stock merchandise in depth, offering a wide variety of personal services not found in your typical mall outlet. These large stores anchor the downtown shopping district of SF and provide the needed heft that any viable downtown shopping district needs in terms of traffic volume. No serious downtown shopping venue can be created solely by a collection of small stores offering local products. Ideally a downtown shopping district would offer a variety of shopping options and be able to cater to local customers and the out of town visitor.
Reply With Quote