Mission Mission

Have you had a chance to check out the new Adobe Books location on 24th Street yet?  If not, tonight’s the perfect excuse to visit and hang for a rad book reading and movie viewing:

• The evening will begin with a reception at 7pm.
• Then Jeremy and Matt will be skyping in to read certain passages of their book, Still Dots, from 8-8:30.
• This will be followed by a rare screening of Carol Reed’s The Third Man starting at 8:30pm, starring Orson Welles.

Details here!

Also, now would be a good time to look back on the recent history of Adobe, courtesy of Andrew McKinley, the owner of the former 16th Street location, in this deeply personal account that he wrote on notebook paper:

Blame it on the Internet; it is so easy but oh, so true. The number of bookstores diminished quickly. The content and knowledge in them was available elsewhere. When we opened, we were one of five street-accessible shops within one block of 16th Street and Valencia Street. Now there will be none.

Read on.

Andy writes in to let us know that tomorrow (Wednesday, 8/14) is a big hearing to “call a Spade a Spade: Jack Spade/Kate Spade is one big company”.  He reiterates that he’s in for a public debate that we (Mission Mission) will run if there are any commenters who oppose the actions to block Jack Spade and are willing to publicly stand up for what they believe.

You can follow the story of the opposition here.

The press release after the jump.

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You’ve probably heard that Adobe Books had to leave their 16th Street location recently, and relocated to a new location on 24th Street. You’ve probably also heard that Jack Spade, an upscale retail store that is a spin off of Kate Spade which is a subsidiary of Liz Claiborne, was planning to move into Adobe’s old location well before Adobe had even publicly conceded to leaving. (For reference, check out Kevin’s reporting here)

Well, a bunch of “Valencia Corridor” businesses are opposing Jack Spade as a formula retailer brand from a multinational company, and therefore not a part of the Mission community. The opening of a store like this will pave the way for more companies to take root in the neighborhood, and push out the local businesses. Makes sense to me.

I’d also add that they really only appeal to a certain kind of well moneyed, overly groomed young urban professional scenester, but that’s pretty much the Valencia Corridor in a nutshell.

Anyway, you can sign their petition here, and the event should be fun, with proceeds going to “support the Stop Jack Spade campaign”.

The moment that many of you have been waiting for is finally here:

Adobe Books is now Adobe Books & Arts Cooperative. We are a cooperative business owned by Andrew McKinley and thirteen other volunteers who worked hard to save Adobe.

Let’s raise a glass to Adobe’s past, present and future, as we celebrate the grand opening of Adobe at our new home on 24th St.

There’ll be beer from Speakeasy, snacks from Tartine and Rainbow, music by DJs Kevin Spaghetti & Baron Van West, and a bunch of rad art from local artists.  Check out all the details here!

Last month’s party at Adobe was a smashing success, but there’s still more work that needs to be done!  Fortunately, eclectic indie rockers The Dodos are headlining a benefit for the embattled bookstore that includes some other notable names:

Our Indiegogo campaign still has a long way to go (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-adobe-books). We have until March 15th to raise the remaining 25K. Thankfully a bunch of talented musician are friends of the store, and are joining forces for a benefit show this Monday at Public Works. Thanks to their generosity we have a real chance of making our goal, and creating a new Adobe that is everything we love about the old Adobe and more.

THE DODOS
ADAM STEPHENS (OF THE TWO GALLANTS)
THE TAMBO RAYS
SPECIAL GUEST TBA
DJ ANDY CABIC (OF VETIVER)

Doors at 7pm, Music at 8pm
$20 in advance (via Indiegogo)
$25 at the door

Check out all the details here!

Adobe Books has long struggled with rising rents on their block of 16th St. near Valencia. But what started as a goodbye party for  this past Wednesday quickly turned into a welcome party for the next incarnation: Adobe Cooperative. No, it’s not going to be a place to get free Photoshop tutoring. Actually, I’m not quite sure what it will be.

A group lead by Rainbow Grocery‘s Jeff Ray will take the helm from long-time owner Andrew McKinley and they will be implementing a new business model. Here’s what one of the new guys had to say:

“Andrew has run it as a community space more than a business. We’re not going to let it close, but we have to think of new models,” says another organizer, Kyle Knobel, who talks about the need for diversification – like selling vinyl and magazines; hosting popup shops; putting on events. “We’ll still have some books, but it’ll evolve.”

I guess you can’t run a book shop that just sells books anymore. Still, it should be interesting to see what pops up.

[via SFGate]