Quynh Nguyen, owner of Gateway Croissants, hadn’t heard the news that Mayor Daniel Lurie had ordered city workers back to the office at least four days a week. When a Standard reporter told her Thursday afternoon, she broke out in a smile. A coworker clapped his hands behind the glass displays of crullers, palmiers, and bear claws.
“I’m so happy to hear that,” Nguyen said. “If they’re coming back, all the small businesses like me around here will be busier.”
Foot traffic to her Tenderloin shop has plummeted since the pandemic. It got to the point where she removed all the tables because it wasn’t worth it to offer seating that would need cleaning when so few people came in. While business has been slowly picking back up — she has noticed a lunch rush since federal workers got their return-to-office mandate this month — she eagerly anticipates another influx.
“Maybe we’ll be able to take out the table and chairs again,” she said.
Working at the corner of Hyde Street and Golden Gate Avenue, a block from Civic Center Plaza, Nguyen has seen improvements in the neighborhood of late. “My customers have said that they don’t feel safe, but now I think people don’t need to worry,” she said. Fewer folks are just hanging around or visibly doing drugs, she said, and the streets seem cleaner.
Even at 1 a.m. (her shop is open 24 hours), the neighborhood scene has calmed considerably.
The mayor’s office is opening discussions with labor leaders and is aiming for late April for “full implementation” of the RTO plan, according to a recent memo. Almost a third of city workers are now coming to the office fewer than four days a week.
M. Ali at Civic Center Market believes the city will “get better and better” if more workers return. His shop, which has been open for about seven months on Market Street, sells snacks, drinks, and basic grocery items and operates a deli and ice cream counter next door. “I hope everyone can come back to the office,” he said. “It’s been very slow, because most people work from home.”
He attributes his shop’s struggles to the persistence of remote work and conditions on Market Street, though he added that it has seemed cleaner recently. “It’s been very slow, because most people work from home,” he said.
While Civic Center Plaza looked relatively empty around lunchtime on Thursday, several coffee shops and lunch spots were doing brisk business. La Cuisine Cafe on Market Street had a steady stream of customers around 12:30 p.m. ordering caprese sandwiches, pasta salads, and bagels, prompting its proprietor to wave off questions. “I’m busy right now,” he said.
Sokkhim Kim, employee at United Nations Cafe in Civic Center Plaza, responded to the news of Lurie’s mandate effusively: “If they come back, I’m so happy,” she said.
When more people fill the offices near Civic Center, it means more business for the cafe.
“Everybody needs a job,” she said. “When it’s busy, we all benefit.”
After Salesforce announced its similar RTO initiative in the fall, local businesses enjoyed sorely missed lines for breakfast and lunch.
Not everyone’s optimistic. Some city employees have complained online about the mandate, citing the time suck of commuting, lack of office space, and parking troubles.
But it seems like good tidings for Rene Denis, owner of Cuban-Colombian restaurant Chao Pescao at 272 McAllister St. He’s been hoping for more consistent demand during daytime hours for his arepas stuffed with slow-cooked pork and pressed Cubano sandwiches.
“I’ve been wondering and waiting. When I found out they were coming back, we were really excited,” he said. “It’s great for the staff, it’s great for us. Hopefully we can depend on more consistent lunch service, which would be a breath of fresh air.”
Before the pandemic, his restaurant (then called Soluna) thrived at midday, but it’s been the “complete opposite” since, he said. Dinner has been much more steady, though “at the mercy of the performance schedules” of area theaters.
“Along with lunch, our happy hour has definitely been affected,” he noted.
A steady stream of customers will be a welcome salve. “We missed them,” he said of city workers. “We can’t wait for them to come check it out and enjoy their happy hour again.”