San Francisco is in dire need of a Target.
There are two instances of the big box retailer situated directly across the highway from each other just south of the city, in Daly City and Colma respectively. The drive between the two takes less than five minuets (in traffic). That's how hard San Franciscans are itching for their Target fix.
Well, it looks like the days of having to drive southward to pick up a $6 meat tenderizer designed by Michael Graves are numbered because, earlier this week, the city's Planning Commission approved a proposal for a Target to move into the former Sears location at Geary and Masonic.
The Chronicle's City Insider reports:
But don't think the suburbs are coming to the city just yet: the commission also made some tweaks to the look of the building.
"I didn't want it to look like a suburban shopping center you'd see in Phoenix or Miami," said Commissioner Ron Miguel. "It doesn't need that kind of lipstick and hair gloss."
As a result of a measure passed by San Francisco voters in 2006, all businesses with eleven or more retail locations must be granted a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission to be able to open up shop.
The Geary location isn't the only Target slated to come into San Francisco over the next few years. A new Target opening in 2012 will be the anchor of the Metreon Shopping center, an innovative shopping mall complex opened by Sony in 1999 that's since devolved into a large, nearly-empty container for an IMAX theater.
Last year, the Minnesota-based retailer came under fire for giving a large contribution to a group running campaign ads for a conservative, anti-gay gubernatorial candidate in their home state -- something that may hurt sales in famously gay-friendly San Francisco.
Interestingly, while Target apparently had little trouble getting approval for its Geary location, another large chain retailer trying to move into the area didn't have such luck. When the San Diego-based pet supply giant Petco recently attempted to move into a vacant storefront in the Richmond at Geary and 18th Avenue, the Board of Supervisors passed legislation to block the store, citing the negative effect the franchise would have on nearby locally-owned pet stores. This move by the board preemptively blocked the store before the Planning Commission could consider issuing a permit.
Pet shops aside, with two Targets inside city limits on the way, most city residents probably won't have to go down to Colma again. At least, until they die.