"We can either have that storefront empty for another two years, or they can welcome me." Jing Chen said that to the San Francisco Planning Commission on Thursday, September 24. Chen owns Therapy Stores, and she was asking permission to open a gift shop at 32 Clement St., near Second Avenue. The commission voted unanimously to approve her.
Most coverage has framed the hearing as chain versus independent. The more useful frame for anyone who walks the east end of Clement is vacancy. The 1,231-square-foot space at 32 Clement used to be an eyeglass store and has been empty for two years. During the same weeks the commission was hearing the case, a 34-year-old restaurant at 316 Clement closed for good, and another storefront at Sixth Avenue put a "Store closing" sign in its window. Seen together, those changes put the Therapy debate in a different light.
What the Two Sides Argued at City Hall
San Francisco's formula retail rules generally require a conditional use hearing once a business has 11 locations. Therapy has 10 open Bay Area stores. Chen had 11 when she applied in May, and although her San Bruno store has since closed, the planning code "also counts locations entitled for operating," she said. Rather than argue the technicality, she and the planning department chose to go through the hearing.
The path to that hearing included some missteps. The Clement Street Merchants Association filed an enforcement complaint in March. It said Chen had put up an awning and a sign and displayed merchandise before getting permits. In April, city planners issued a notice of enforcement, mostly because the space was zoned as a medical office, not retail. Chen told the commission she had made "a mistake" by preparing to open "without fully understanding the planning code." Meanwhile, the association put up "No formula retail on Clement Street" signs in windows along several blocks, and its Change.org petition passed 400 signatures.
The merchants' case was about what they sell. Amanda Weld co-owns Tantrum, an independent children's toy shop at 248 Clement St. At the hearing she asked how a chain carrying "the exact same stuffies, onesies, S.F. merch, hats, hair clips, candles, cards, socks and jewelry lines as several other existing businesses within the same three blocks" would fill a need. Two of those nearby businesses are Foggy Notion, Alissa Anderson's gift shop at 124 Clement, one block from 32 Clement, and The Future Past, the vintage clothing and alterations shop at 12 Clement. Five merchants spoke against the application and five people spoke for it. One supporter was jewelry maker Seana Boehm of Amano Studio, who said Therapy had sold her designs for decades.
The commissioners decided the case on land use. Commissioner Mike Chen said he was uncomfortable being asked to rule "on the basis of character attestation." He also said he saw the 11th location of a local chain differently from an outpost of a national retailer. Commissioner Sean McGarry, who said he has lived in the Inner Richmond since 2011, acknowledged the competition concerns. "Neighbors are neighbors," he said. Chen has promised to work with Clement merchants to avoid overlapping products, but planning staff noted that the city "cannot dictate what a particular shop sells."
There is one more detail. Chen bought the 32 Clement building in December 2025 for just under $2 million. She owns the building as well as running the shop, so her plan does not depend on a landlord's lease terms. That is not true of most tenants on this street.
The Same Weeks, a Few Blocks West
The hearing took place while several long-running tenants a short walk away were leaving. Mission Local's Richmond Buzz column has tracked the departures since early summer:
| Address | Business | What happened | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 316 Clement St. | Mai's Vietnamese | Closed for good after 34 years | Oct. 1 |
| 455 Clement St. | Chococo | "Store closing" sign after an earlier temporary closure | Oct. 1 |
| 304 Sixth Ave. | Ceramics and furniture shop | Handwritten clearance signs | Oct. 1 |
| 514 Clement St. | Golden Phoenix Hair Salon | Closed after 43 years; space advertised for rent | July 23 |
| Clement St. at 10th Ave. | Apple Land Produce | Closed; renovation underway, no new business registered | June 12 |
Mai's closed the Wednesday before the October 1 column ran. Becky and Ricky, the couple who ran it, had reopened in January after a six-month closure while Ricky recovered from knee surgery. A sign in the window reads, "It has been a joy to serve you and be part of this neighborhood." At the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Clement, Chococo and the furniture shop at 304 Sixth Ave. are both behind scaffolding. Aroma Tea Shop sits between them at 302 Sixth Ave. and, according to the column, "seems here to stay."
Not every pause has ended in a closure. Xiao Long Bao at 625 Clement and Clement Restaurant near Seventh Avenue both reopened after short breaks in July. Still, the businesses that have left this year had been operating for 34 and 43 years. That is the backdrop for a hearing that turned on whether one more gift shop belongs on the street.
Who Is Lined Up to Move In
The list of incoming tenants is shorter, and none of them had confirmed an opening date as of October 3.
- MNT Studio, 35 Clement St. This Pilates and wellness studio is directly across from 32 Clement. Its website still lists the Inner Richmond location as "OCTOBER 2026!" and says class scheduling is coming soon.
- Solo Show, 701 Clement St. Signs near Eighth Avenue had gone up by August 18, describing a trendy women's clothing shop. A company called Golden Lu LLC registered at the address in late June.
- Therapy, 32 Clement St. As of SFGATE's September 27 report, the store was "about to open." Therapy's own locations page does not list a Clement address yet.
So the incoming tenants are a fitness studio, a clothing shop and a gift shop. Against them, the corridor has lost a Vietnamese restaurant, a hair salon, a produce market and a clothing store. Two of the newcomers take spaces that had been empty or unopened for a while: 32 Clement has been dark since 2024, and the 701 Clement shop was still showing only signs in August. The real argument over the vacancies is about who will fill them and how much the existing merchants get to say about it, because nobody at the hearing argued for keeping the space empty.
The Dates Between Now and the Holidays
The commission's vote is not final yet. Under Planning Code Section 308.1, an appeal of a conditional use decision to the Board of Supervisors can be filed no earlier than 10 business days after the commission acts. It must be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the decision. If the 30th day falls on a weekend, the deadline moves to 5 p.m. the next business day. The appeal also needs signatures representing at least 20 percent of the affected property, under the same section. The merchants association first said it would consider an appeal, and SFGATE later reported it planned to file one.
Counted from September 24, the dates for the corridor work out like this:
- October 3 and October 11: The 4 Star Theater hosts preview screenings and fundraisers for "Roll Fog," a documentary about San Francisco City FC.
- October 8: The appeal window opens. That same evening, the Internet Archive at 300 Funston Ave. at Clement hosts a free panel, "Money in San Francisco politics: Who's spending big on the election?"
- October 26: This is the last day to file an appeal. The 30th calendar day is Saturday, October 24, so the deadline rolls to Monday.
- November 5: One Richmond's monthly cleanup meets at 802 Clement St. from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- December: The association's Clementime holiday shopping stroll usually runs from Arguello toward Park Presidio. The 2025 stroll was December 4, with Tantrum, Foggy Notion and The Future Past among the participants. A 2026 date has not been posted.
The association describes itself as a group of corridor merchants, business owners and nonprofits, and its president is Christopher Squire. Besides Clementime, it promotes the Sunday farmers market and a quarterly Clement Street Art Walk. The holiday stroll will be the first time this season that the corridor's shops present themselves together. By then, the Board of Supervisors may have settled the 32 Clement question. Whichever way it goes, empty storefronts like 316 and 514 Clement will still be looking for tenants.
For owners of mixed-use buildings along Clement, an empty ground floor affects both the street and the building's finances, and this fall shows how slow and public it can be to fill one. Omari Williams helps Inner Richmond owners look at storefront income, tenant mix and the numbers behind a small multifamily or mixed-use building. If a vacancy on your block has you rethinking your own building, Book an Appointment and we can go through it together.
