But they love our gentrification!

Andy Blue sends in the press release, describing the next steps to keep the shop out of the Mission. Full text after the jump:

JACK SPADE OPPONENTS RETURN FIGHT TO CITY HALL
WITH EXPANDING SUPPORT FROM POLS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS

Author of formula retail ballot measure, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano:
“Jack Spade has operated in bad faith”


Matt Gonzalez, Aaron Peskin; Supes Campos, Avalos,
and Mar support the appeal.

SAN FRANCISCO –– Backed by the original drafters of San Francisco’s formula retail ordinance, the coalition fighting to stop designer menswear line, Jack Spade, from opening a new store in the Mission District, heads to City Hall this Wednesday, October 9 (City Hall, Room 416, 5:00pm) to request a rehearing before the Board of Appeals.

Authors of San Francisco formula retail ordinances, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and former president of the Board of Supervisors, Matt Gonzalez, expressed unequivocal support for the appeal, writing that to allow Jack Spade to move in without first holding a public hearing would subvert the intent of the formula retail ordinance. “Measure G was intended to protect the community voice from being overshadowed by large corporate interests,” Ammiano writes in a letter of support. “Jack Spade has operated in bad faith by using store count technicalities to evade fair and transparent public processes.” (Read full letter, here: bit.ly/ammiano-letter)

The Valencia Corridor Merchants’ Association, the appellant in the case, argues that the Board of Appeals has a duty to adopt a holistic reading of the Planning Code, which would lead to Jack Spade being classified as formula retail. The result would be to subject Jack Spade to a public conditional use hearing before being granted building permits. (Read the VCMA’s brief, here: bit.ly/vcmabrief)

Jack Spade claims that because it is an “independent business” with only 10 stores, it should not have to seek approval from the community. The Planning Code defines formula retail as a business with 11 or more locations in the United States.

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., clearly qualifying as formula retail. (Read more backstory, here: bit.ly/jackspadesf)

The appeal has received wide support from elected officials and community groups. In addition to Ammiano and Gonzalez, Former Board of Supervisors president, Aaron Peskin, and current Supervisors David Campos, John Avalos, and Eric Mar each added their own letter of support. Several community groups including Causa Justa :: Just Cause, PODER, the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), and Calle 24 SF have also backed the appeal.

“Allowing Jack Spade to locate into the Mission District would damage the economic and social conditions in the neighborhood by . . . damaging the local small business community who would have to compete with a highly capitalized large-scale ‘national retailer,’” wrote Luis Granados, MEDA’s Executive Director. (Read full letter, here: bit.ly/meda-letter)

The appeal comes as the debate around displacement in the Mission is coming to a head. Next Saturday, Calle 24 SF and some 40 other community organizations are holding an anti-displacement rally and march with hundreds of participants expected. The event is titled Our Mission: No Eviction, with the slogan, “Stop urban deportation. Stop Jack Spade!” (http://tinyurl.com/calle24). According to the San Francisco Rent Board’s annual eviction report, city-wide evictions have risen by 26 percent compared to last year, while the number of Ellis Act evictions increased by 81 percent.

In late September, a standing-room only crowd discussed these trends in an event titled “Jack Spade, Gentrification, and the Mission: A Community Discussion for Action.” In coverage of the event, SFist referred to Jack Spade as “a galvanizing symbol of the latest phase in the Mission’s gentrification and potential loss of character.”

We got a lot of heartwarming feedback regarding today’s post about the fate of Zeitgeist…

1. Malcolm M. recommends a classic Leisure Town installment, “A Grand Day Out”, which may or may not take place in and around the vicinity of the bar in question:

Link to complete slideshow.

2. Outraged Charles B. says:

We should go when Ali is here maybe… although it really calls for a big big group of people. Maybe Mills people and everyone I know in town will want to go out.

We should also burn the Borders to the ground one it’s done.

3. Curbed SF picked up the story. Sarah conjectures as to what might transpire:

Heads exploding, fists flying, inner children dying, Tom Ammiano on the ground, gasping for breath … Madness, just pure, delicious madness.

Link.

4. In seeking out art for this follow up, I myself came upon a wealth of good stuff on Flickr, including:

Dick jokes:

Link to larger.

and pink elephant graffiti:

Link to larger.

Also, we’ve gotten a bunch of hits via the SGSF Bay Area group on Suicide Girls, but we don’t know what they’re saying because none of us are members. Anyway, to one and all, thanks for reading.

(Zeitgeist photo by diavolerie, dick joke photo by DrScaryBeard, pink elephants photo by fiveinchpixie)