Lose your chains
Outer Sunset shop owners vote Starbucks out.

By Rebecca Sills

BEACH-BOUND travelers might soon notice a distinct change in the Outer Sunset neighborhood where the N Judah line ends and the sea breeze begins. Starbucks has signed a lease for 3906 Judah St., a relatively small space of 747 commercial square feet. With 62 locations in San Francisco, the Seattle-based coffee chain has made itself quite at home here. Now it's hoping the mostly residential Outer Sunset will be just as hospitable. But for a quiet community that prides itself on its co-ops and locally owned shops, a relatively small Starbucks is a big issue.

In late June, Outer Sunset resident Tess Manalo-Ventresca learned of Starbucks' plans to move into the space on Judah Street and immediately met with other community members. The group of local merchants and residents formed the Sunset Neighbors for Action and drafted a petition that currently boasts 3,203 signatures.

Sunset Neighbors for Action (SNA) has since filed a discretionary review with the San Francisco Planning Department and awaits a public hearing before the Planning Commission, where its arguments against Starbucks' arrival can be made. Manalo-Ventresca is quick to articulate several threats posed by the coffee chain. "Starbucks would force out independent neighborhood businesses in the area, increase traffic congestion, drag down employee salaries, and drain local profits out of the economy," she said. Should the Planning Commission approve Starbucks' permit at the public hearing, community members can still appeal and have yet another public hearing before the Board of Appeals.

With multiple locally owned coffee shops in the Outer Sunset – from Janes' Corner Cup to classic beach bum haunt Java Beach – Starbucks may indeed pose a substantial economic threat to members of the community. Amanda Janes, owner of the Corner Cup, just three blocks away from the proposed Starbucks location, explained, "Because I only use fair-trade and organic coffee, I pay exponentially higher for coffee than Starbucks does. A big corporation that can buy coffee for less than a buck – well, a company like that can impede my growth, and I can die."

The community isn't taking its stance against Starbucks for economic reasons alone. Imagining that familiar green logo on Judah Street has elicited many responses from the neighborhood on why the ubiquitous shop is unwelcome. "Starbucks is a 'we,' " said Brennan Murphy, a resident of the area and co-owner of the co-op Other Avenues. "One pops up, and five more pop up."

Daniela Kirshenbaum, cofounder of Network Neighborhoods, a San Francisco organization that focuses on "good planning and good government," described the opposition to Starbucks as partially symbolic. "On a very abstract level, [Starbucks' arrival in the neighborhood] represents decisions being made for us on what's going on in our neighborhood." At the very least, then, the community reaction is an opportunity to be part of the decision making.

In response to the grassroots campaign, Kristine Hung, regional marketing and community relations manager for Starbucks, met with Sunset residents Aug. 14. Hung said her goal was to "communicate the right information," arguing that most of the community's opposition stems from misperceptions of Starbucks. "I don't think people recognize the economic growth that we drive. We're also a great employer." When it came to traffic congestion, Hung said she did not believe that would be an issue at this site because people would use the N Judah line.

However, many people at the meeting found Hung's answers unsatisfactory, especially in regard to economic development. After Hung argued that Starbucks is an opportunity for extensive economic development, the Corner Cup's Janes posed the question, "If so, then why aren't you in Bay View-Hunters Point and the Tenderloin?"

Hers is an increasingly relevant question as Starbucks continues to move into communities that might not want it there or need the added commercial development. Indeed, participants in the Sunset campaign have learned many of their tactics from the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, which successfully prevented a Starbucks from being built in Hayes Valley this summer.

After nearly 17 Starbucks stores in the city were vandalized Aug. 5, it is clear San Francisco harbors anti-Starbucks sentiment. A mere mention of the word "Starbucks" in the Java Hut inspired Victoria Bertotti, who lives at 40th Avenue and Judah, to say, "That's exactly what makes me want to leave San Francisco." Yet anyone who's seen the line outside any of the downtown Starbucks at 9 a.m. knows the über-chain isn't sending everyone into boycott mode. Some people like $4 frappucinos and fast food-style convenience. With 49 of its San Francisco stores in the Financial District alone, the chain seems to recognize its key demographic.

And it's not the beach bums in the Outer Sunset.

While Fiona Ma, the district's city supervisor, is backing the community's fight and "doesn't feel Starbucks would be a good fit over there," the Planning Department declined to comment on the situation. Manalo-Ventresca suggested that Daniel Sirois, the city planner in charge of the site, does not seem to understand the community's perspective. "He said to me, 'The staff will most likely recommend approval to the commission of this small store because we don't discriminate against businesses,' " she said. "I said, 'It's not a small store. It's a global corporation in a small space.' "

Walking into the Corner Cup, on any given day, one will find at least three of the following things: substantial fog surrounding the area, local artists' works on the wall, homemade cupcakes, a Giants poster in the window, and various community postings. Janes prides herself on the look of her store because it represents her neighborhood.

But Hung also seems very proud of Starbucks' accomplishments, noting that the corporation has given more than $1 million to northern California nonprofits in the past three years. "We really are the local café that gives back to its community," she said.

At a neighborhood meeting Aug. 21, the Sunset Reform Democrats voted to support the SNA's opposition to Starbucks. Members of the SNA are currently awaiting a date for a public hearing on the issue and in the meantime are writing letters to the Planning Department and hoping to gain more support from local organizations.

Perhaps Starbucks can beat Janes when it comes to the amount of money it can afford to donate to nonprofits. But Janes's description of her shop makes it obvious that hers truly embodies that intangible, homey quality of locally owned coffeehouses. "I live in this neighborhood," she said, "and I make a point of knowing everyone's name who comes in my door." Until Starbucks' Seattle-based CEO can claim to do the same, the Outer Sunset fight will rage on.