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Shreve & Co. to move from storied SF location
After 109 years in the same building, skyrocketing rents in San Francisco are forcing the retailer to relocate, though it’s moving to a larger space that will allow it to expand and remodel.
An interior shot of Shreve&Co.’s current store in San Francisco’s Union Square; the retailer expects to move sometime in spring 2016
San Francisco--As rents in San Francisco continue to skyrocket, luxury jewelry retailer Shreve & Co. will relocate from the space it’s occupied for more than a century.
The store has been at its current location on the corner of Post Street and Grant Avenue in the city’s Union Square neighborhood since March 1906.
It moved in just a month before the San Francisco earthquake and fire devastated the city, and is now the oldest retail business in San Francisco and was the only jeweler to survive that catastrophe, according to the company.
Lane Schiffman, vice president at Shreve & Co. parent company Schiffman’s, told National Jeweler that they tried hard to renegotiate the lease but were unable to since they were outbid “in a very aggressive market.”
While it’s not certain at this time exactly when the retailer will be moving, he said they’re hopeful that the store can remain in the Shreve Building until spring 2016.
Schiffman said that even though they’re sad to be leaving that location, they also see it as an opportunity to find a new space that will accommodate the growth goals they have for the store, especially since they’ve already been talking about expansion.
“We’re extremely excited to have the opportunity to move forward,” he said. “The advantage to this is that we can do a really major makeover with new spaces, better lighting and cases, and the ability to present our brands in the prestigious manner that they (the brands) would really like.”
Though he couldn’t yet release specifics about the new location, he did confirm that it will be very close to the existing space, and indeed will be bigger in size than the current 4,300-square-foot Shreve & Co. store.
“We’re a very healthy, thriving business, and we really have no debt. And this isn’t the first time we’ve had to move. So we feel that we have enough experience with all of those stores to make this future move a real success.”
He also noted that the San Francisco real estate is definitely a “hot market” right now, and that a lot of international influence has been entering the market, with big international companies buying prime spaces in the city.
Other brands that are in the Union Square neighborhood within blocks of Shreve & Co. include Bulgari, Christian Dior, Gucci, Prada, Tiffany & Co., and Cartier.
The SF Gate
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reports that jeweler Harry Winston will move into the space after Shreve, though that information could not be confirmed by the building management before press time.
In addition to its flagship store in San Francisco, Shreve & Co. also has stores in Palo Alto, Calif., and Portland, Ore. It has been part of Greensboro, N.C.-based Schiffman’s since 1992.
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