Closing: Kohler-Jones (Bring Back Mikeytom!)

A reader alerts us to this change on outer Church Street:

I noticed this morning that the Kohler-Jones furniture and design store on Church at Day was empty and closed. Won't miss them, they had crappy furniture and crappy customer service! Bring back Mikey-Tom's!!!

Let's hope it's not another nail salon or real estate office.

It's not clear why Kohler-Jones pulled up stakes so quickly, but there's now a 'For Lease' sign in the window and the Kohler website and phone are still live as of this writing.

As for the "Mikey-Tom's" the reader refers to - that was Mikeytom Market, a local grocer and neighborhood market at 1747 Church owned by Mike Meischke and Tom Maravilla (the Mike and Tom in Mikeytom). It closed in May 2003 after the store was hit with a hefty rent hike.

We don't see Mikeytom returning anytime soon, but it's fun to wonder what might land there. A restaurant? A grocer? A wine shop? A cheese store? What do you want to see?

Update: $6800 for 2350 sq ft per Craigslist post:

Prime Restaurant/Retail space on Church & Day st. (1747 Church) in Noe Valley near 30th st. Ideal space for restaurant. Corner location across the street from Toast restaurant. Regent Thai, Eric's and Encanto [sic] restaurants are nearby. You must see to appreciate the potential for this location. The space is approximately 2,350 sq. ft. For contact: call Peter at 415-577-8898

[Photo: Yelp]
[NVV: Mikeytom's Struggle to Survive]

Noe Valley SummerFEST 2012

Hawaiian shave ice, Smitten ice cream tasting, a petting zoo, live music, honey bee demos, a magic show ... it can only mean one thing: SummerFEST on 24th Street.

On Saturday June 16 from 11-5 (the day before Father's Day), 24th Street merchants will be throwing a family event in downtown Noe Valley.

There's nothing posted about this year's festival on the NVMPA site yet except last year's poster, but if you've seen the SummerFEST banners high on poles on 24th Street and wondered what they say, click the image above to see a larger version with full details.

This Week In Noe Valley

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• A tree took out J-Church lines and a power pole [Twitter, also: ABC7]
• Only 8 single family homes for sale in Noe Valley right now (and not cheap) [Zephyr]
• The only TIC unit that sold at the converted flop house on Church returns to market [SocketSite]
• SFMTA wants to eliminate DPT ticket writers on street cleaning day, use cameras instead [KTVU]
• SFPD recovered over 100 stolen bikes; is yours one of them? [SFPD, also: SFGate]

Google Buses Behaving Badly

Longtime readers of this blog know that Google (and other) corporate shuttles have been controversial in Noe Valley. Homeowners appreciate the value they add, users continuously remind us that they cut down on cars on the road (as if living where you work wouldn't), and people who don't work in Silicon Valley complain about their neighborhood becoming a bus depot. But for the first time, we have a complaint about the buses from a bus user...of another company:

Noe Valley Editors - I read your blog on Noe Valley and I wanted to write in about an issue I've been noticing in our neighborhood. We our own home at 22nd Street and Noe. We have lived in Noe for 8 years and just recently, I noticed Google switching its private commuter shuttle bus route from 24th street to go on local streets that were not intended to be used by such large buses...

This reminds me of the incident where Google was upsetting residents on Jersey Street years ago. As a fellow Silicon Valley employee, I can empathize with the desire to have commuter bus shuttle service to service the commute to/from the Peninsula. I have commuted in/out of the Peninsula my entire career here in the Bay Area for the past 13 years but my employee commuter shuttle runs up/down Guerrero Street and does not go down the local neighborhood streets.

I believe these are the Google buses that are at fault but these private commuter shuttles are running west on 24th Street, going right onto Noe, driving up the hill, and making a left on 22nd Street to cut over to Castro Street. I am pretty sure they are doing this to avoid the traffic of commuter shuttles and SF buses and the light at the corner of 24th and Castro. I am upset by this as my children play on 22nd Street, it's a small street towards the top of the hill and was never intended to be a street served by bus traffic. I am wondering what we can do to help rectify this issue as a community as the Jersey Street folks did years ago for their street.

Which brings up a question: Do the commuters who use these buses ever confront the drivers for using inappropriate streets, bus stops, etc? Or are they just along for the ride?

[NVSF: All posts on shuttle buses]
[NVSF: Shuttle Buses: Useful or Menace?]
[NVSF: Meeting: Upper Noe Neighbors]

Announced: Big Time Tot Rock

This is for those readers with young children (who haven't high-tailed it to suburban schools yet):

Hey there! It's Alison Faith Levy here. I was doing the super popular story and music time at Phoenix Books on Wednesday mornings, and I have now turned it into a wonderful music appreciation class for kids 3 and under called "Big Time Tot Rock." At the moment, I believe this is the only early childhood music class right now in Noe Valley, and it's lots of fun. I am offering the classes at Playhouse Noe Valley, which is just a couple of doors down from Phoenix, at 3961 24th Street. It would be great if you could help spread the word, the classes have been great fun and it's a perfect way for young children to express themselves and enjoy music in a comfortable environment.

Here's the info:

Alison Faith Levy's Big Time Tot Rock Music Classes
Two classes on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Ages: 0-3 yrs old
$25 drop-in, $100 for a 5-class pass (which can be used for other Playhouse classes as well, including dance and gymnastics)

First class is free - so come try it out with your little ones!

www.theplayhouseatnoevalley.com
(415) 800-7735

The Mystery Of 1513 Church St

After Loft 1513 moved to 24th St, Vivid Floral Design leased the space and began to prepare it for opening. Then at the end of April they vacated and a For Lease sign reappeared. No more Vivid. For the last few weeks there's been activity (mostly IKEA furniture assembly) and the space looks ready for use again. But for what?

Since we saw mail on the doorstep addressed to Blue Realty Group we contacted CEO Joseph Blue. His response was unequivocal and offered no further information: "NO WE ARE NOT MOVING INTO NOE VALLEY THANK YOU." Nearby merchants who have spoken to workers state that the space will be a realty office. [Update 5/22: This morning there's a new sign in the window for Realty World - BLUE.]

As for Vivid... Don at Heliotrope says that Vivid was threatened by two steps at the entrance and an ADA lawsuit. We're still trying to reach the owner of Vivid to confirm, and will post updates as we get them.

Anyone else have info?

Photos: The 2012 Solar Eclipse From Noe Valley And Beyond

We asked for photos highlighting today's annular solar eclipse on Twitter and here's what we have so far (though not all are from Noe Valley). Got a great shot? Send it our way and we'll add it to the post.

Credit: @KennethLaslavic

Credit: NishaSF

Credit:@jgc94131

Credit: trophygeek

Credit:Telstarlogistics

Credit: Casto

[Top Photo: NVSF]

This Week In Noe Valley

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• 11 Day MUNI shut down means the J-Church won't make it downtown [SFGate, also: SF Appeal]
• Yet another article about the Facebook IPO "attracting techies in T-shirts and jeans carrying fat wallets" [LA Times]
• SJ Merc review of Incanto says tough to park in Noe Valley but offaly worth it [SJM]
• Plaza Planning done right with neighborhood involvement [Mission Local]
• K9 Scrub Club makes "Top 25 Coolest New Businesses" list [Business Insider]
• Trip planning: Yosemite Falls via webcam and two cool videos [KQED]

[Photo: K9 Scrub Club]