SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Businesses in the San Francisco Excelsior District are hoping to reach more customers in the neighborhood with the help of a community design project.
Leaders of the initiative have chosen one of the city's most diverse neighborhoods as the next location to continue the efforts that have revitalized stores in other parts of San Francisco and in Spain.
“As a woman of color and from a multiracial background, I wanted to stay grounded on my own base, and now I have children,” said Leah Sabado, owner of Excelsior Coffee.
Sabado runs the store with her husband and will celebrate its fifth anniversary in the area this August. They saw an opportunity to add a coffee shop to the block that could celebrate a multicultural family with roots in the Filipino, Black, and Mexican communities.
“If we don't do it, someone else might do it. At least we can represent the culture we come from and do it our way,” she told KPIX .
To maintain the character of the Excelsior District, business owners welcome the opportunity to acquire new stores that will make their stores and restaurants more appealing to passersby. Sabado points out that a company's appearance can tell its story, and for those who don't have a website, it can be their biggest chance to connect with new customers.
“Having beautiful stores and assets that help grow a brand only uplifts others and garners attention and curiosity,” Sabado said.
Freepik is an image bank website founded in Spain. The company's neighborhood design projects are already supporting businesses in the city's SoMA district, as well as in Malaga City, where Freepik was launched.
Independent designers had the opportunity to participate in a project that created a new look for Excelsior's Mission Street store with the help of artificial intelligence-generated content.
“We love it here,” said neighbor Katie Thrash, one of the coffee shop's first customers. “It's a very lively neighborhood, lots of families, and a very diverse population. We're coming together,” he said.
The love for this community from neighbors and workers helped motivate the Freepik Neighborhood Design Project.
Sabado said the neighborhood is an old and undervalued area, but its history and diversity are worth celebrating and preserving. She wants to expand her roasting business and add more food and drinks to the menu, and wants to see Excelsior thrive for many years to come.
“I think this is the last real San Francisco neighborhood,” she says.
