Since 1990, Jamil Najjar, better known to locals as “Pops,” along with his wife Fatmeh and son Khader (a.k.a. Jimmy), has been a familiar face in the Lower Haight. The Najjars are the owners of the S&W Market at the corner of Haight and Webster, whose name comes from the initials of the two younger Najjar sisters, Sanaa and Wafa.

Hoodline recently had the opportunity to speak with Jamil, a formidable man with tattoos across his hands. Though he was initially slightly suspicious, he opened up quickly when given the opportunity to share the history of his experience owning a business in the Lower Haight.

His wife Fatmeh's sister is married to Mohammad, the proprietor of fellow Lower Haight liquor store O'Looney's, which was recently featured on Hoodline. The two families came to the U.S. together from Palestine in the mid-‘70s.

After his family's arrival in San Francisco, Jamil worked at a similar store owned by a cousin in Potrero Hill. In the early ‘80s, he purchased his own corner market on Douglas Street in the Castro/Eureka Valley area. By 1986, the family was able to purchase another corner store, in Hayes Valley.

Unfortunately, the Douglas Street store was destroyed in a fire in 1989. With the insurance money, Jamil decided to rent the space at Haight and Webster that today houses S&W. The space was practically empty at the time, with ancient refrigeration, wooden shelves and no inventory whatsoever. It took three months to get the store up and running; Jimmy and his mother, Fatmeh, handled its operations while Jamil ran the Hayes Valley store. 

Khader "Jimmy" Najar, who runs S&W with his parents. 

After three years of renting S&W's space, the Najjars were given the option to purchase the entire building, including the store and the four apartments above. Today, Jamil is quite pleased he was able to take advantage of that opportunity, given how rents have soared. In the beginning, however, he says it was difficult to keep good tenants, since the neighborhood was so rough. His son, Jimmy, says that as the neighborhood has improved in recent years, the family has acquired great long-term tenants. The Najjar family themselves initially lived in various apartments throughout the city, ultimately purchasing the home in Daly City in which they now reside.

"Pops" maintains a close rapport with his customers; he's known many since they were young teens, some of whom are now parents with grown children and even grandparents.  

He has also seen a lot of positive changes in the neighborhood throughout the years. He says that as recently as eight or ten years ago, the area had frequent shootings, often by people who were not from the neighborhood.

Jamil attributes a significant amount of the recent decrease in violence to the cameras placed at the corner of Haight and Webster. He says the District Attorney actually approached him initially about placing cameras either inside or outside his store. However, Jamil had heard stories about other proprietors who had faced retribution from gang members for similar actions, and did not feel comfortable with that level of surveillance.

In recent years, the neighborhood's ethnic makeup has also changed. Jamil said his customers used to be predominately African-American, but are now a mixture of black, white, and Asian. His son, Jimmy, agreed, saying the mix has changed from 75 percent African-American to as much as 75 percent Caucasian.  

When asked about doing business in the Lower Haight, Pops called it a great little neighborhood, saying he couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. His passion for the community shows: S&W has often extended credit to their long-term customers. Jamil explains that God has blessed him, so he feels that he should extend that blessing to others. 

Previously: Liquor Stores Of The Lower Haight: Abe's Market, Liquor Stores Of The Lower Haight: O'Looney's Market