By Lorraine Sanders

WHILE NATIONAL CHAINS vie for precious retail space in San Francisco, small business reigns supreme along Noe Valley's 24th Street shopping corridor. When several longtime neighborhood establishments closed earlier this year, small businesses and local retail chains, not corporate giants, took their place.

Thriving old-timers and fresh, new storefronts are welcome news after last year's closure of the Real Foods grocery store and the more recent departures of Colorcrane, Tien Fu, Tokyo Imports, Dharma, Workwear, and Lit'l Lizards. And with a Coming Soon sign announcing the imminent arrival of local Peruvian restaurant chain Fresca (3945 24th St.) and the recently opened La Coterie Hair Salon (3961A 24th St., 415-789-5391), the trend is sure to continue.

In Noe, retail spaces are tiny. Carol Yenne, president of the Noe Valley Merchants Association and owner of Small Fry's children's clothing store (4066 24th St., 415-648-3954), said that's no accident. "We negotiate those things up front," she said, pointing out that neighborhood regulations require retail spaces to be less than 2,500 square feet.

Small spaces can sometimes be a tight fit for growing local shops, but owners have found creative ways to expand their storefronts. This spring, Ambiance (3985 and 3989 24th St., 415-647-7144 or 415-647-5800), with its eclectic, boho-chic styles, took over the space formerly occupied by clothing retailer Workwear. Now the original Ambiance stocks shoes, accessories, and sales-rack items, and the new space shelves clothing. Though the stores have separate entrances, customers don't seem to mind jaunting down the sidewalk to continue browsing.

When children's shoe store Wavy Footprints (3961A 24th St., 415-285-3668) stepped into the larger space once occupied by Lit'l Lizards, it found more room for growing inventory, freeing up a location for toy and gift retailer Just for Fun (3982 24th St., 415-285-4068), a spot owner David Eiland said he'd been waiting for. "If I had had my preference, I would have put an art store in Just for Fun," Eiland said, but there simply wasn't room.

In Just for You's former digs, Artsake (3961 24th St., 415-695-0506) combines high-end art supplies like dry pigments and the hard-to-find Savoir Faire line with a mom-and-pop atmosphere. In addition to providing student art materials and a kids' art camp, Artsake has another neighborhood essential: treats for canine visitors.

Also joining the neighborhood's game of retail musical chairs was See Jane Run (3910 24th St., 415-401-8338), a women's athletic store with a successful four-year track record. When Tokyo Imports vacated its space, See Jane Run sprinted down the block. With the increased wiggle room, customers have space to flex their shopping muscles.

The storefront shuffle among longtime neighborhood residents has also seen some newcomers getting in on the action. One such transplant is Lady Bug Lady Bug (3870 24th St., 415-824-5477), which relocated from Balboa Street in the Richmond District to sell its gift cards and local artisan work. Lowered rents gave owners Lisa Sherratt, Susan Bates, and Sheila Musgrave the opportunity to snag the prime retail space in late April. "Noe Valley is a shopping destination, whereas where we were really wasn't," said Sherratt, who paints custom silk pillows and wall hangings for patrons.

Another neighborhood newbie is making art out of oils, but not the painting kind. Opened in May, Stonehouse California Olive Oil Company (3901 24th St., 1-800-865-4836) offers an olive oil tasting bar with exotic flavors like Persian Lime and Blood Orange. Owner Trish Baldwin, who also operates a Ferry Building location, says her store's farmers-market values jibe with the neighborhood ethos: "It's still very neighborhoody. A Bay Area consciousness is there."

The neighborhood's unique character is also what made Allen Grant's J. Allen Home Furnishings and Fine Gifts (746 Diamond, 415-285-7917) and Haight Street retailer Shoe Biz (3810 24th St., 415-821-2528) open their doors there this year.

"There are nice young couples, there are marrieds, gays, and it's multigenerational," said Grant, whose store boasts the neighborhood's only interior- and lighting-design service.