'The Hard Wear Store' Blames Shop's Demise On Streetscape Construction

'The Hard Wear Store' Blames Shop's Demise On Streetscape ConstructionPhoto: Cheryl Guerrero/Hoodline
Walter Thompson
Published on June 13, 2017

Moving from a career with companies like Dockers and Levi’s to owning a corner store that caters to working-class customers was always a challenge, said Angela Tickler, owner of The Hard Wear Store.

One block away from the N-Judah, the Great Recession nearly killed the shop shortly after it opened, but Tickler relied on a friendly landlord and burned through personal credit to survive rocky times. But nine years later, it wasn’t competition from Amazon that finally made her decide to close up shop.

The Irving Streetscape Improvements Project — a city effort intended to spruce up the shopping district, “was the final nail in our coffin,” Tickler told Hoodline.

Sup. Katy Tang and Assemblyman Phil Ting give Angela Tickler (center) an award for Small Business of the Year. | Photo: Phil Ting

“I weathered a lot of stuff over a lot of years, but the streetscape project did us in,” she said. “Parking and traffic is always bad here, but when you add the construction, it became horrific. People wouldn’t come near the place, and it went on for a very, very long time.”

Work on the initially controversial project, managed by SFMTA and Public Works, was to begin in fall 2015, but significant construction didn’t start until February 2016. Changes included adding sidewalk seating, palm trees and bulb-outs at intersections, along with sewer upgrades, repaving and other infrastructure improvements.

In February 2016, Public Works project manager Mike Rieger told area merchants that they were “only looking at a week [of construction] directly in front of your business," and that agencies would do their best to minimize disruption. 

That’s not how it played out, Tickler said.

The Hard Wear Store at Irving & 25th Avenue. | Photo: Cheryl Guerrero/Hoodline

Due to “the rainiest winter we’ve had in a long time” and what what she views as a lack of coordination between city departments and contractors, customers couldn’t find parking due to the ongoing construction, said Tickler.

“Instead of all these projects happening simultaneously in an integrated way, they were happening in tandem, and it dragged things out for more than a year,” she said in a phone interview.

Tickler said other businesses in the streetscape construction zone have closed up shop.

“If you walk up Irving Street between 19th and 25th, we have more vacancies now than we’ve ever had,” she said. “Probably a dozen other business have gone under in the last six months, all attributable to the same problem.” There are several long-vacant storefronts in the corridor, and nearby ice creamery Swich recently announced plans to shutter.

Although District 4 Supervisor Katy Tang has “always been very supportive of my store, San Francisco does not have a program for helping merchants through this,” said Tickler. Hoodline contacted Tang for comment, but did not hear back.

The shop sells branded neighborhood gear and work clothes. | Photo: Cheryl Guerrero/Hoodline

The store, best known for her brother Barry’s neighborhood-themed clothing line SF-OG, attracts a local clientele and does minimal online sales. “If you drive across town and then you spend 35 to 40 minutes trying to find parking, you get frustrated, and you leave,” she said.

“That just dug the hole deeper until it could not be climbed out of,” she said. “My store survived, but my credit rating did not.” As a result, she can’t borrow to raise additional capital, even though her debts are paid.

“I cannot qualify for any of the city’s loan programs, or any banks, so in a situation like this, it leaves me more vulnerable than businesses that could get a loan to bring them through,” she said.

Although her landlord allowed her to defer some rent payments until the 2016 holiday shopping season, Tickler decided with a heavy heart to close the shop. She announced the news via Facebook to give friends and family first crack at clearance sale items, and plans to keep the store open through the end of this month.

“My brother’s T-Shirt business is continuing, and I will help him with that in any way I can,” said Tickler. “It’s really his SF-OG apparel that’s kept us alive.”

Tickler said she still supports the streetscape project’s goals but believes the city needs a system that gives impacted businesses access to loans that could see them through extended construction periods. 

“I’m not asking them to just write me a check,” she said, “but if you could have at least guaranteed access to a low cost loan that could have bridged me through, I wouldn’t be closing.”

As of January 2016, KQED reported that the city's Office of Workforce Development offered merchants impacted by construction loans and grants for "a marketing blitz that lets customers know businesses are open during construction."

According to Public Works, the streetscape portion of the project between 19th and 27th Avenues is “nearly complete.” New streetlights, decorative crosswalks and gateway columns near 22nd Avenue Produce Market and Salon De Hong Kong are on the to-do list.

Tickler said there’s been an outpouring of support since she announced the closure. “It’s those loyal customers, more than anything that carried us for this long through a lot of difficulty.” Besides her brother and his partner Alfredo Arana, she thanked longtime manager Adrienne Oliveros, her "right arm.”

“I’m happy that this chapter is closing, because it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Tickler said.

The Hard Wear Store (415-682-9565) is located at 2401 Irving (Irving & 25th) and is open from 10 to 6 Monday - Saturday, and from 11 to 6 on Sunday.