Castro's Fantastic New Artist Fueled Store: Local Take

Castro's Fantastic New Artist Fueled Store: Local Takelocaltakelogo
Waiyde Palmer
Published on July 20, 2013
Local Take StoreTucked behind the historic MUNI F trolley line station Castro's newest store for all things cool has just opened at 3979B 17th Street between Castro and Hartford streets called Local Take. While the Castro has been dominated of late with debates over formula retail stores versus small, independent, one of a kind concerns one such 'Mom & Pop' store popped up a bit under the radar stuffed with goods that are uniquely San Francisco and ready to serve all your retail therapy needs.
Butterfly-John Higgins
Photo by John Higgins, 1978, NYC Pride Parade.
Local Take features creative goods from local talent. They range from hand-made belt buckles composed of broken car window glass to Queer historical photography from well-known artists like John JB Higgins who lives just a few blocks away. Many of the items for sale are Castro/San Francisco oriented in theme as well. Local Take is the brain child of business partners Jenn Meyer and Kyra Brown who hope to create a space where local, established and emerging artist's goods can be found and purchased giving voice-and economic bump-to all the vibrant and often hard to find local talent. Local Take's doors have only been open for slightly more than two months but so far the response has been great according to co-owner Jenn Meyer who I found minding the store when I poked my head in to see all the treasures available there.
Co-Owner of Local Take Jenn Meyer. Photo: Waiyde Palmer
Co-Owner of Local Take Jenn Meyer. Photo: Waiyde Palmer
One of the things that struck me besides Ms. Meyer's kind and welcoming demeanor was the variety of artist and designers plus styles of art represented-94 in all-and with the exception of one from Wyoming-all hail from the Bay Area. "Even that 'out of town' designer", Ms. Meyer confided, "just moved away from the City six months ago so she's really San Francisco adjacent and her product still has all the San Francisco flavor we look for." I'm a bit of a t-shirt whore and Local Take has a huge selection. Even more impressive was the fact that they offer them in styles and sizes for all- toddlers through adults-again handcrafted by local designers. Also on hand is a range of housewares that are imaginative and innovate like colander's turned into hanging lamps, Ocean Beach driftwood decorated with inspirational visions and quotes, plus an impressive and huge variety of ceramics and housewares. "There's a lot of talent in San Francisco and we really want to expose the neighborhood to them-what's really exciting for us is that about 30% of our artists have never shown anywhere before, they work 9 to 5 jobs, and this is their first step into letting the world see their work and that's really cool for us and were happy to help them on that journey." Ms. Meyer explained. Highly recommend going and checking it out to find that perfect, one of a kind, affordable item you or someone you love secretly needs and help support local art, designers and Castro's newest, unique, small businesses. Website: Local Take. Phone: 415.515.7720 The store is open daily from 11AM-7PM. Artists or designers looking to show work please contact them via email. "Like" them on Facebook.