Bay Area Reporter :: Business News

Business Briefing: Desert flora inspires SF-based skincare line hault

March 8, 2023

Over the years San Francisco resident Brian Diethorn has found visits to Joshua Tree National Park straddling the Colorado and Mojave deserts and to Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley to be rejuvenating destinations.

Castro Merchants back lesbian tech confab — with conditions

by John Ferrannini
Mar 2, 2023

After bitterly criticizing last year's Lesbians Who Tech and Allies' confab in the Castro, the merchants association decided Thursday to back the group's return to the LGBTQ neighborhood this fall — with conditions.

Beleaguered Castro seeks signs of hope

by John Ferrannini
Mar 1, 2023

January's abrupt closure of Harvey's lit a fire under mounting anxieties that San Francisco's storied Castro LGBTQ neighborhood is in decline.

Many Castro businesses non-LGBTQ owned, survey finds

by John Ferrannini
Feb 22, 2023

Less than half of businesses in San Francisco's LGBTQ neighborhood that participated in a 2021 survey conducted by the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District were "owned or managed" by members of the queer community, neighborhood leaders told the B.A.R.

Business Briefing: Spice shop shakes up couple's wedding plans

by Matthew S. Bajko
Feb 8, 2023

Four days shy of Christmas in 2021, Matthew Green and Phuong Mai got engaged and began making wedding plans. Together nearly six years, the San Francisco couple had expected to set a date sometime in 2023.

Castro merchants to split grant money for two pop-ups after row

by John Ferrannini
Feb 3, 2023

A public squabble about how to spend $100,000 that's been made available to the Castro Merchants Association by the city to encourage pop-ups in shuttered storefronts seems to have been resolved by its board of directors on Friday.

Castro merchants members squabble over grant money for pop-up store

by John Ferrannini
Feb 2, 2023

Members of the Castro Merchants Association are wrestling among themselves about how to spend $100,000 that's been made available to them by the city to encourage pop-ups in shuttered storefronts.

Business Briefing: Gay investor aims to boost LGBTQ-led startups

by Matthew S. Bajko
Jan 11, 2023

As the saying goes, at the end of every rainbow should be a pot of gold. And one is likely to encounter a unicorn grazing nearby, according to legend.

Business Briefing: Holiday gift buying off Castro's beaten paths

by Matthew S. Bajko
Dec 7, 2022

Oftentimes veering off the beaten path bears fruit. So is the case for holiday shoppers who venture to San Francisco's LGBTQ Castro district for their gift buying needs this yuletide.

Beswick leaves GGBA to start consulting firm

by Eric Burkett
Nov 30, 2022

After a year leading the world's first LGBTQ chamber of commerce, Terry Beswick has departed the Golden Gate Business Association and struck out on his own as a consultant for small businesses and nonprofits.

Business Briefing: Artist draws up mascot for SF Castro district

by Matthew S. Bajko
Nov 2, 2022

It began as a request from his boyfriend, Mau Dominguez, who wanted something special to wear while working as a server at the Castro gay bar the Edge.

Business Briefing: SF electrologist caters to trans clients

by Matthew S. Bajko
Oct 12, 2022

The demand for electrologists who offer transgender-affirming care in San Francisco is such that within months of Melanie Ampon opening Hearten Electrolysis in June, she had compiled a waiting list of more than 40 prospective clients.

Gay SF business leader works to revive city's downtown core

by Matthew S. Bajko
Sep 14, 2022

Ryan McNeill, a gay senior executive with Bank of America, is assisting with reinvigorating San Francisco's downtown area as it adjusts to new working patterns brought about by the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Business Briefing: Queer herbalist aims to redefine wellness

by Matthew S. Bajko
Sep 7, 2022

Having kept her herbal apothecary in San Francisco's Mission district afloat since the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Laura Ash has now launched a new online venture aimed at redefining how people view wellness.

Business Briefing: Oakland DJ, radio host James helps show off city's Pride

by Matthew S. Bajko
Aug 16, 2022

East Bay native Christie James is helping to showcase the local LGBTQ community next month as one of the organizers of the Pridefest Oakland 2022 celebration.

News :: Business