The North Beach Business Association is aiming to promote local merchants with three new initiatives from now through early 2016, including a holiday window contest, colorful new lighting in the area on street poles, and a proposed Super Bowl street party.
Fady Zhoub, Zoubi, who was the group's vice president, took over in June; former president Della Heywood stepped down when her business, The Emerald Tablet, closed. Zhoub is an assistant vice president at US Bank, which is also a member of NBBA.
"These three projects have never been done in North Beach, and we want to try new things,” Zoubi said. "Anything we do from now on, the main thing we’re going to ask is: 'How is it going to bring business into North Beach, and how is it going to make North Beach better?'"
Holiday window displays
All members of the NBBA (about 80 in all) have been automatically enrolled in the association's holiday window display contest. "Existing members get a free starter kit from the association," which includes a strand of lights, Zoubi said.
This past Sunday, December 13th, a panel of judges roamed the sidewalks and peeked in to pick the winner, which will be announced at the NBBA's holiday party on Thursday. The top prize is $500.
Z. Cioccolato is an NBBA member with a holiday window display.
Lighting on street poles
The NBBA recently got a $12,000 grant from the city for beautification, which it used to pay for flower baskets and hanging lights on Vallejo and Green streets. "We had a certain amount left, so we decided to do another thing," Zoubi said. "We reached out to the [SF Public Utilities Commission] and asked them to add outlets to the light posts. Now, we can actually put lights on the light posts, instead of hanging them from the buildings."
The goal, Zoubi said, is to brighten up the streets and make them inviting—particularly Grant Avenue. "Instead of it being dark, you’ll decide to walk down there and see what’s going on.”
The NBBA will choose roughly 20 street poles in the neighborhood and wrap them with lights that can change color. "Throughout the year, it’s going to be the Italian flag colors," Zoubi said, "but we can change the colors to anything we want. We can change them for the Giants games; the Warriors games; the 49ers games." The city will do a test in the next couple of weeks, he said, and the lights are expected to be up permanently by the end of January.
Zoubi with Al Ribaya, owner of Al's Attire, a Grant Avenue merchant and NBBA member.
Super Bowl party
If all goes well, North Beach could be a hub for Super Bowl viewing, with a big NBBA-hosted street party on game day, February 7th. The group hopes to close Green Street between Grant and Columbus avenues for the day, setting up a viewing screen for fans to catch the action down in Santa Clara. "We’re thinking of having the screen in the parking lot next to [the vacant] Buon Gusto," Zoubi said.
If the group gets the necessary approvals for street closures, public viewing and more, it'll budget $10,000 for the party. They plan to use Steven Restivo Productions, the same events company the NBBA contracts for the North Beach Festival.
Finally, a neighborhood guide is in the works. It'll be along the same lines as the recently released SoMa Guide, but won't debut until next year.
“We’re trying to get some people back here," Zoubi said. "We want to get some business in North Beach."
