New Valencia boutique transforms your baby into a “Punk Princess”

And then when she grows up she can hang out with Ivanka Trump and Jennifer Lopez at a real punk party

The real shame of it all is that this is the former location (Valencia by 20th) of X-21, that rad antique shop that had all sorts of old Hollywood movie set lights and other eclectic mid-century curiosities.  It was forced to close when the owner became sick, thus enabling this type of place to move in.  By far the coolest feature of that shop was the basement, packed to the gills with all the other stuff that couldn’t fit on the ground floor.  If you walked all the way towards the street, you’d find yourself just underneath the sidewalk, with tiny shafts of obfuscated light streaming through those mini glass “skylights” embedded in the sidewalk that you probably never notice as you tread over them (just in case you’ve ever wondered what those were).

Anyway, to see what the current place has in store for your little “Punk Princess,” proceed…

35 Responses to “New Valencia boutique transforms your baby into a “Punk Princess””

  1. Chris Jones says:

    Barf.

  2. m says:

    If ever a time for a Bill Burr tag line…”ooooohhhhhhhhh, jesus.”

  3. m says:

    But, really, what’s worse than the store itself is the fact that this shit will likely sell.

  4. Brillo says:

    Transgressive is the new normative.

  5. Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

    Ugh.

  6. m says:

    I’d like to see a Bold Italic piece featuring interviews with Valencia stroller-parents. Do they venture off Valencia? Which Pitchfork and/or Spin article in particular helped transform them into hip parent they’ve become? South Van Ness to Bryant – “Could use more boutiques” or “don’t even bother”? Think of the possibilities…

  7. tuffy says:

    It looks like that says “Cuntwell”

  8. Sean says:

    @m

    I’ve lived in the neighborhood on and off since ’99. We moved in on 20th St. b/t V & G five years ago and since then we’ve had a kid. We’re “Valencia stroller-parents” because we had a baby and it’s the closest intersection. Why would I take Mission with the boy when Valencia has much less chance of random-drunk/high dude interactions?

    However, you are totally correct in that parenthood in the mission has made us soulless consumer whores, and we’re here to trash your neighborhood in the name of almighty brands. Come join our club at Natural Resources, or you can find us on the soccer field behind the water park Tuesdays between 4 and 5:30. Bwahahahaha!

    • 2 Culture Sportscasters says:

      “He’s gone in with 99, that’s a strong date there, good opening, good opening.”

      “Yes, 99 is a real strong date, going to be hard to complete with that, Paul, but he could get in trouble there, 99 during the first boom and all”

      “That’s true, that’s true, but many of the other competitors probably don’t have a good hold on when that first boom was happening, remember the Pets.com ad didn’t appear until 2000, that would’ve been many of these other sportsmen’s first exposure to dot-com, and that’s a full year after 99″

      “You’re right, you’re right, but he’s also got the on and off, that’s open to question, of course”

      “I think that’s close enough, these other guys probably have a number so far past 99 that on and off isn’t going to make any difference here, but we’ll see”

      “Yes, we’ll see, we’ll see! Well, it’s a great opener so far! A great day here, and can I just say the weather is gorgeous? You can’t beat that early October!”

    • 94103er says:

      Yeah seriously. Who the hell has time to shop with small kids, anyway?

      Also, jesus people, let’s see what’s changed since 1999/2000. The vacant storefronts on Valencia are being put to use. (Oh noes.) Mission Playground doesn’t have that incredibly nasty annex on Valencia that everyone was afraid to enter. (Oh noes.)

      There were cutesy boutiques on Valencia in the good ol’ days, too.

      And Mission St? Exactly the same. Pretty baffled that we think the soul of the city hinges on a few blocks of that other commercial street in the Mission.

  9. I said says:

    Better than ever.

  10. Rebecca says:

    Cuteee!

  11. where'smejumper says:

    Your pining for the past might be fogging your memory. Yes, they had novel items and bizarre window displays at X-21. But it was expensive and the people working there were bordering on obnoxious. They mostly sold to affluent clients and the interior designers who shopped for them. They also ran a prop rental business, because their overpriced furniture rarely sold. All things considered I found their flee market pretense to be very contrived. And why are you attacking Aldea? It’s taken them about about ten years to grow their business from a small shop on 17th and Valencia. Are you scolding them for being successful?

  12. shemp9999 says:

    “Your pining for the past might be fogging your memory.”

    Indeed! Punk has been dead for many, many years.

    The Mission is not what it was 20 years ago either, as sad as that may make some of us who remember and enjoyed it, that’s how it goes. New can be interesting, but unfortunately, many of us find the new generation is…boring.

    Even the hipsters are almost gone. Tours go by my house more than once a day.

    Face it, this once lively neighborhood is now the neighborhood of techbros, normals and tourists.

    Look to the Lower East Side for guidance.

    • Dave says:

      All these “boring” people tripled the value of my condo. It’s very sad.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Hipsters are almost gone? That’s crazytalk. We should be so lucky. The Mission is still neck deep in hipsters.

      • shemp9999 says:

        Herr Doktor, I would say the majority has shifted. Normals are everywhere. And sure, Dave, it’s nice to know I’ll be able to cash out and leave someday, but I was hoping it would stay interesting a bit longer.

        • larry20000 says:

          Can the old generation do more than just complain?How about taking some of that money you’ve made on your real estate and opening a neighborhood business or venue?

      • m says:

        There is a massive difference between coattail riding dorks with neon wayfarers who listen to the oh sees and people who actually have some aspect of “hip” to their personality. 90% of the people referred to as “hipsters” in the mission these days are nothing more than urban outfitters clones who will do whatever the mass media outlet they currently subscribe to tells them to do. It’s sad that this has become confused with “hip”.

        I am in a mooooood.

        • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

          They’re still hipsters. The derogatory term “hipster” arguably applies even BETTER to them than it does the previous generation. *shrug*

    • techbro says:

      You seem pretty level-headed about all this, so.. try to think about it from the other side. There was a sweet culture here 10, 15, 20 years ago. Sounds like you helped build it, so it makes sense you’re bummed to see it go. But something tells me you weren’t thinking about the olds of the time when you were building it.

      Now there’s a dwindling population of aimless 20-something punks, hipsters, party people whose additions to that culture have been marginal at best, and mostly want the heyday you created to last forever without putting in the work to come up with something new themselves. Doesn’t stop them from whining about tech gentrifiers ruining everything, of course.

      Don’t get me wrong, I spent most of my youth being angsty, going to the same shitty hardcore shows, racing in alleycats before most hipsters even know what a fixed gear bike was. I had a great time with all that, but I was always working on the next thing too. Boring to me is being a grown-ass man still doing the exact same shit from when I was 19. Boring is convincing myself there’s no need to plan for a future because how could my Peter Pan Neverland ever come to an end?

      To me, there’s nothing boring about having a good job that treats me with respect, where the things I make are used by millions of people around the world on a daily basis. Obviously there are plenty of people getting rich making dumb photo sharing apps for teenagers, but there’s real stuff happening too.

  13. scum says:

    When I first met the girl who become my wife over 20 years ago on Haight St. she was a 17 year old punker with a 3′ mohawk. She probably would have gone postal if someone called her a princess.

  14. Ross says:

    OMG EVERYTHING IS SO TERRIBLE NOW

  15. flipburgerz says:

    ignorance is bliss.

    the people on valencia we are all poo-pooing have no idea why we do.

    zzzzzzzzzzzz mission is now just a place for all these folks without the imagination to suffer…
    to spend their practically limitless disposable income.

  16. Missionish says:

    One word: absurd.

  17. flipburgerz says:

    i guess lack the imagination to reply as well.

    one word: vacant

  18. dave says:

    The death of the Mission AND punk rock celebrated in one thread. Sweet.