SFMade opened its first permanent Union Square storefront on Tuesday, turning 1,049 square feet at 373 Geary St. into a showcase for work from 105 local artisans and makers. The nonprofit, which has spent years supporting Bay Area manufacturing, built the shop with help from a two-year, $500,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase's philanthropic arm.
The new location marks a shift for an organization that had previously tested the retail waters with temporary pop-up markets, according to The San Francisco Standard. Interest from those pop-ups is what pushed SFMade to seek out a permanent space, and CEO Joyce Shulman said the mission behind it is straightforward: “We exist to help manufacturers start, grow, and scale.”
Rickshaw Bagworks is among the brands now sitting on Geary Street shelves, with its bags and accessories still produced at a Dogpatch factory, the Standard's report notes. Shoppers can also find ceramic tableware from mmclay and apparel from Cut Loose, part of a mix that spans clothing, home goods, shelf-stable foods, coffee, jewelry, and prints. For many of the vendors, this is new territory: only about 20% of the retailers at the store had a brick-and-mortar presence before it opened, per the same account from Shulman.
A Launchpad for Makers Without Storefronts
SFMade is a nonprofit built around supporting local manufacturing, and the Geary Street shop doubles as a retail accelerator and learning lab for the businesses it carries. Workshops and retail training are part of the offering, aimed at helping emerging manufacturers sharpen their pricing, retail strategies, and comfort working directly with customers.
The store currently employs one full-time manager and is expected to bring on four part-time associates. SFMade hopes to add another 50 manufacturers to the lineup in the coming months, according to the Standard's reporting, which would roughly double the current roster of 105.
Union Square's Uneven Comeback
The timing lands squarely in the middle of a broader Union Square retail rebound, though how far that recovery has gone depends on who is measuring it. ABC7 reported the district's vacancy rate at slightly above 15%, still well above the 6.4% recorded in 2019, while Cushman & Wakefield put the overall vacancy rate at 19.9% for the third quarter of 2026, down from 20.3% the prior quarter. The two figures diverge, and the dossier does not reconcile the differing scopes or methods behind them.
Other signs point toward momentum: Cushman & Wakefield's data shows asking rents for premier ground-floor space in Union Square climbing to roughly $600 per square foot annually, up 20% from both the previous quarter and a year earlier, while foot traffic rose 8.5% from Q2 and 8.1% year-over-year. Large leases have followed, including Los Angeles Apparel at 111 Powell Street, Crankstart at 48 Stockton Street, and Kith at 100 Stockton Street, with Nordstrom Rack signing on at 2 Stockton Street in October.
Construction is also reshaping the neighborhood. A planned $42 million Powell Street streetscape project was set to begin this month, with work expected to take about a year and include sidewalk upgrades and a new light display, per the Standard's report.
What Comes Next for the Storefront
SFMade's arrangement with its landlord reportedly includes a discounted rental rate for the first year, and the nonprofit hopes to extend its lease once that period ends. Whether the planned expansion to 50 additional manufacturers, the Powell Street project, or other shifts in the neighborhood ultimately pan out as described remains to be seen.
For now, the Geary Street shop gives dozens of small Bay Area manufacturers a foothold in one of the city's highest-profile retail corridors, at a moment when Union Square itself is still working out exactly how far its comeback has come.
