GANT Opens in Hayes Valley Despite Merchant Opposition

GANT Opens in Hayes Valley Despite Merchant Opposition
Ryan Curran White
Published on March 24, 2013
GANT Rugger, the Swedish-owned clothing store, has officially landed in the neighborhood at 552 Hayes.

GANT (open Monday – Saturday from 11am to 7pm and Sundays from 12pm to 7pm) touts American heritage inspired clothing for men and women in a more fitted, European presentation. They've added quite a bit of antiqued charm and ambiance to the space, which used to be Lili Merveille, a women's and children's clothing store.
Facebook/GANT
GANT has dozens of stores worldwide, but only a handful in the U.S. Much of the company's clothing is carried through affiliate stores. Their Hayes Valley location is their second on the west coast. They first came to shore in New York, then opened up a few stores in other east coast cities before coming to Los Angeles in the summer of the 2012. The style of clothing might mesh well with other Americana-ish stores in Hayes Valley, but the franchise retail operation is a main point of contention for many Hayes Valley shop owners and the Hayes Valley Merchants Association. One Hayes Valley business owner opposed to GANT's arrival is Russell Pritchard, owner of Zonal Home Interiors and president of the Merchants Association.
Russell's resistance to GANT doesn't mean he's not being a welcoming neighbor to GANT's staff. "I'm certainly friendly with all of them," he explained. "I tried to help Danny, the manager over there, find a place in the city." Russell explained to us that he isn't against the employees; he's against the corporation behind the store. "It was the same situation when Starbucks bought La Boulange," he recalled. "We're not against [the employees]; we're against the corporation [being in Hayes Valley]." Why this disapproval of formula retail stores in the first place? "Hayes Valley was founded by small businesses, like myself, and we're trying furiously to keep it how it is, and that's the identity of Hayes Valley," Russell said. "Corporate branded entities are not a part of that fit." He's been as vocal about his opposition as anyone. He's even gone as far as putting up a notice outing corporation-owned GANT and telling customers not to shop there. "The customer reaction has been extremely positive, because the people that shop in Hayes Valley want to shop locally and understand what our neighborhood is all about," Russell told us. "They read [the notice] and they are grateful we are actually doing something to further protect ourselves, because they realize the value of this neighborhood staying what it is." Russell and the Merchants Association are proactively attempting to close the loopholes in the city's formula retail ban to make sure another store like GANT doesn't take root in our hyperlocal economy. They are working with Supervisor London Breed's office to add language targeting internationally-operated stores. "When we first put in place the formula retail ban a few years ago when Starbucks wanted to open a space in the area," he said, "we got to come up with a planning code to help us block places like that, but you don't think about all the little ingredients that can pop up for a retail store to come in. We're working on legislation that can identify all corporation-owned identities, including foreign-owned businesses, who may have under 12 stores in the U.S., but be all over the world." "We're also adding affiliate stores to the code," he added. According to Russell, GANT snuck into the neighborhood through the legality that they only had eight of their own stores in the U.S., but their brand sells its products to affiliate stores. "Collectively, we as a merchant association, we all have the same position that GANT isn’t a fit for the neighborhood," he said. "We're working with City Hall to get ourselves further protected." It's important to note that not every shop owner or store manager in Hayes Valley has the same opinion as Russell and the Merchants Association. We talked to a couple of store managers -- who wished to remain anonymous -- that are happy GANT is in the area. They said it doesn’t compete with their businesses, and brings more foot traffic to Hayes Street. Despite all this hubbub, it's at least nice to know that major retail companies want a piece of the Hayes Valley pie. But if you have an opinion one way or the other about GANT opening a store in the neighborhood, let us know in the comments.
Editor’s Note: We reached out to GANT several times for comment, and have not yet received a response to our questions. If and when we do, we'll update accordingly.