One of my favorite little boutiques in San Francisco and it's owner, Kati Kim, are the latest victims of the "economic slow down." 1767 Church Street (formerly the Church Street Apothecary) has shut it's doors for the very last time this past Saturday, 30 May after liquidating their remaining stock at the 2nd Annual Upper Noe Sidewalk Sale.
Kati Kim is the type of super stylish, fun, funny and very "together" woman that most little girls envision having as their fabulous friend when they grow up and are living in the big city. Kim also owns the super adorable boutique/gallery, Doe, located in the lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco.
Both 1767 Church Street and Doe were a labor of love for Kati and her husband James. After starting Doe together, they decided to open a shop in the neighborhood in which they lived. In October 2004 the Church Street Apothecary opened for the first time. Seeing a lack of goods in their neighborhood, they decided to sell fresh flowers, plants, greeting cards, homeopathic goods and "tchotchkes."
In 2008 the store had to close for redesign and rebranding after losing a fight with the California Pharmacy Board about the use of the word "apothecary" in their name. On top of costly renovations, there was a substantial loss of revenue in the time the store was closed.
Kim also kept her staff on the payroll during this time, having them assist in the renovations as much as possible, so that they wouldn't have to look for new jobs due to the closure. Kim says that sales were good at both stores through the holiday shopping season, then this past February sales at 1767 Church Street just dried up.
"The first items I noticed not selling like they should at the stores were jeans and jewelry," said Kati, "Every style of jeans has been made in the past five years. Chances are if you've bought jeans in that time frame that they are still in style. Jewelry is a luxury item. So it makes sense that when the economy slowed down that people who were tightening their belts would stop buying those items first."
Slow sales, a serious accounting oversight by a member of Kim's staff and the loss of monies from the closure to rebrand combined caused Kati to have to take serious stock of the viability of her Church Street business.
"Truthfully, Church Street was not paying for itself. There were many times that Doe had to subsidize the Church Street location," said Kati, "It was too much for one person to oversee and there came a time where I owed a substantial amount of money. Business is expensive... So one night I just wrestled with what it was I was going to do. I was visited by demons that night, for sure; but, when I woke up in the morning it was really clear to me what needed to be done. So I decided to close the Church Street location and focus my attention on Doe and the e-commerce business."
Though she is sad that the store is coming to an end, she sees an upside in that her friends at She-bible will be taking over the space for their first ever retail outlet. "She-bible is a really requested brand at Doe, they're very popular," said Kim, "It will be a good addition to the neighborhood."