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.

You can follow the story of the opposition here.

The press release after the jump.

COMMUNITY COALITION TAKES FIGHT AGAINST
NEW JACK SPADE STORE TO SF CITY HALL ON WEDNESDAY

Merchants, organizations and neighbors present new evidence suggesting Jack Spade
misrepresented the nature and structure of its company when applying for City permit

Supervisors Campos and Avalos submit letters supporting initial appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — The fight against designer menswear line Jack Spade opening a new store in the Mission District heads to City Hall this Wednesday, August 14th, as a coalition of merchants, community organizations, and neighbors takes their case with new evidence before the Board of Appeals (City Hall, Room 416, 5:00pm).

The Valencia Corridor Merchant’s Association (VCMA), as well as concerned residents and a number of Mission District-based community organizations, including Causa Justa :: Just Cause, PODER, and La Raza Community Resource Center argue that Jack Spade falsely presented itself as a small, independent business in order to avoid the City’s “Formula Retail” regulations, which require businesses with over 11 locations in the U.S. to submit to a public approval process.

The Coalition maintains that Jack Spade is the same company as Kate Spade LLC, both of which share headquarters in New York; distribution software and distribution center in Ohio; IT, HR and legal departments; staff and payroll; and parent company, 5th & Pacific (formerly “Liz Claiborne”). According to 5th & Pacific’s public filings, Jack Spade is considered a sub-brand of Kate Spade, which itself has 94 locations in the U.S.

The Coalition argues that, had Jack Spade been forthcoming about its corporate structure, it would have rightfully triggered a public hearing under the formula retail regulations.

“We need to call a Spade a Spade,” said Eileen Hassi of the VCMA and owner of Ritual Roasters on Valencia Street. “Kate Spade and Jack Spade are not, by any reasonable definition, separate companies and therefore Jack Spade needs to be treated as formula retail. Under the formula retail ordinance, the community gets to have a say in the development of its neighborhoods. We’re asking the Board of Appeals to let our case go forward.”

In July, after months of unsuccessfully trying to engage with Jack Spade to discuss their concerns, the VCMA filed an appeal to have the company’s permit reconsidered. Because the filing occurred after the specified window for appeal had passed, the VCMA must first be granted jurisdiction by the Board of Appeals, which is the subject of Wednesday’s hearing.

The VCMA maintains that local businesses were given insufficient notice of the permit in the first place, and point out that the person in charge of notifying the Mission Merchants Association is a paid consultant of Jack Spade. Because of the extenuating circumstance, they have requested the Board of Appeals to allow the case to move forward.

Since then, the coalition has broadened to include a number of community organizations and concerned residents. Supervisors David Campos and John Avalos have also submitted Letters of Support for the VCMA’s appeal. While the VCMA has pointed out that Jack Spade may serve to push out local businesses by increasing rents in the neighborhood, Mission-based organizations and residents have found common cause in the idea that the community should have a chance to speak out when big business wants in.

The effort to oppose Jack Spade comes as the debate around chain store regulations in San Francisco heats up. Six of San Francisco’s 11 supervisors—including moderates London Breed, Mark Farrell and Scott Wiener—have either introduced successful legislation or proposed ordinances that would bring the controls to new neighborhoods or define more businesses as chain stores, the SF Examiner reported. Meanwhile, the Planning Department has commissioned a city wide study on the effects of formula retail, slated to be published in the fall.

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]