News :: Business

Business Briefing: Local biz Barb aims to restyle hair care sector

Business Briefing: Local biz Barb aims to restyle hair care sector

  • by Matthew S. Bajko
  • Jul 13, 2022

For women and gender-nonconforming individuals with short haircuts, finding hair care products made specifically for them can be a challenge.

Business Briefing: COVID leads massage advocate to adapt business

Business Briefing: COVID leads massage advocate to adapt business

  • by Matthew S. Bajko
  • Jun 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.