Bay Area Reporter :: Business News

Business Briefing: COVID leads massage advocate to adapt business

June 8, 2022

In business for 22 years, Candace Combs moved her In-Symmetry Spa to San Francisco's Mission Creek neighborhood 11 years ago.

Business Briefing: Comics shop welcomes readers of all persuasions

by Matthew S. Bajko
May 11, 2022

There are no aisles of bookcases overstuffed with comic books at Sour Cherry Comics in San Francisco's Mission district neighborhood.

Business Briefing: Company aims to flip the script on female contractors

by Matthew S. Bajko
Apr 13, 2022

Erica Anenberg likes to be hands on in her work, especially when it comes to home renovations. For decades she has bought properties around Southern California and fixed them up herself.

Business Briefing: Couple revives downtown Livermore taproom

by Matthew S. Bajko
Mar 9, 2022

Years ago Kristen Iosco had tended the bar at Tap 25, a taproom in downtown Livermore showcasing more than two-dozen beers on tap. She then was hired as the general manager at Almanac Beer Co., a taproom and brewery in Alameda.

Business Briefing: Equator Coffee pairs perfectly with Golden Gate parks

by Matthew S. Bajko
Feb 9, 2022

Bicycling over the Golden Gate Bridge on weekends from her Marin County home to check in on Equator Coffee's latest San Francisco location, Helen M. Russell marvels each time she sees the neon signage for the company she co-founded.

Business Briefing: Queer nursery co-owner plants new roots

by Matthew S. Bajko
Jan 12, 2022

In the coastal community of Pescadero a roughly seven-acre parcel recently was acquired by Delano Nursery where it plans to expand its business and grow more of the plants it sells rather than importing them from overseas.

Business Briefing: LGBTQ merchants make holiday shopping a breeze

by Matthew S. Bajko
Dec 8, 2021

Headlines for months have warned that retail store shelves would be barren this holiday season due to a plethora of problems hitting the country's supply chains. Yet nothing could be further from the case at locally-owned stores in the Castro.

Business Briefing: Milk SF cafe honors namesake's legacy

by Matthew S. Bajko
Nov 10, 2021

For nearly two decades Steven Satyricon had worked at a local coffeehouse on the edge of San Francisco's LGBTQ Castro district until the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close its doors in March 2020.

Business Briefing: Gay chocolatier opens Oakland store

by Matthew S. Bajko
Oct 13, 2021

Michael Benner began making his own specialty chocolate confections in 2015 and, within two years, had launched his own business under the brand name Michael's Chocolates.

Business Briefing: Queer SF film commissioner shares his love of movies

by Matthew S. Bajko
Sep 8, 2021

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year photographic homages to beloved movies and television shows started popping up on the social media feeds of brand and communication strategist Jack Song.

Business Briefing: Used goods store revives payments to SF nonprofits

by Matthew S. Bajko
Aug 11, 2021

Over its 39 years of operations the Mission-based used goods purveyor Community Thrift Store had never missed a payment to the numerous San Francisco nonprofits it helps support.

Business Briefing: New LGBTQ real estate group expands

by Matthew S. Bajko
Jul 7, 2021

A year after launching in the United States, a new association for LGBTQ real estate professionals is expanding into Canada and looking to jump the pond with chapters in Europe.

Business Briefing: Gay-owned Berkeley bakery takes a stand for AAPIs

by Matthew S. Bajko
Jun 9, 2021

Husbands Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu, co-owners of Berkeley's Third Culture Bakery, are using their culinary skills to stand up for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Business Briefing: Queer co-owned coworking space opens in downtown SF

by Matthew S. Bajko
May 12, 2021

A new queer and female co-owned coworking space has opened its doors in downtown San Francisco just as the city begins to reopen due to declining rates of COVID cases and deaths.

Business Briefing: LGBTQ San Francisco social club daylights

by Matthew S. Bajko
Apr 7, 2021

As it marks its reopening this weekend with a free art event open to the public, a queer social club in San Francisco's LGBTQ Castro district is planning to offer daytime access to nonmembers starting June 1.

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