Mayor Lurie Celebrates New Businesses Opening Across Five Neighborhoods Thanks to Storefront Opportunity Grant Program

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today celebrated six new businesses opening across five neighborhoods with support from the Storefront Opportunity Grant, including Mission Lotería, which opened its first permanent storefront today at 2884 Mission Street. The opening builds on the momentum of the city’s multi-agency effort to improve conditions at the nearby 16th Street and 24th Street BART plazas—combining public safety deployments, social services and outreach, and community activations to provide safer, cleaner, and more welcoming public spaces. The Storefront Opportunity Grant program is run through the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD).

These new homegrown small businesses continue Mayor Lurie's work to accelerate San Francisco's economic recovery and support families with vibrant, safe neighborhoods. Through PermitSF, the city has implemented common-sense reforms to remove burdens for businesses to set up cafe tables on the sidewalk and paint their own business name on their storefront. The streamlined permitting process is now turning around a record 86% of major permits in under 30 days, and since the launch of the fully digital permitting portal earlier this year, applications can be submitted at any time. Investments in small businesses are also energizing neighborhoods and commercial corridors across the city: a suite of grant programs—including Vacant to Vibrant, Downtown Vibrancy Loan Fund, Accessible Barrier Removal Grant, and Storefront Opportunity Grant—have supported more than 600 businesses citywide in moving into brick-and-mortar spaces.

“All across our city, small businesses like Mission Lotería are bringing life to our neighborhoods and driving our recovery. And when we invest in their growth and success, with programs like our Storefront Opportunity Grant, we help build a stronger future for our entire city,” said Mayor Lurie. “At the same time, we’ve been working across departments to make the 16th Street and 24th Street BART plazas safe and clean for the Mission community. There’s more work to do, but with city efforts and local businesses like Mission Lotería, we can make these plazas the vibrant, welcoming public spaces the community deserves.”

“This milestone would not be possible without the support and investment of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the City of San Francisco,” said Luis Quiroz, Mission Lotería Owner. “I’m incredibly grateful that they believed in the concept and saw the potential of Mission Lotería. I’m equally grateful to the businesses that have participated, the artists who have helped us create this world, and every person who has shopped local, played Lotería, attended one of our events, or joined us on a neighborhood tour. This has always been a community effort. My vision for the storefront is to create a little bit of magic on Mission Street.”

Founded by Luis Quiroz, Mission Lotería began in 2019 as a shop-local campaign encouraging residents and visitors to discover businesses throughout the Mission District. It has since grown into a cultural brand offering neighborhood tours, game nights, pop-ups, merchandise, and partnerships. Its new storefront will serve as a retail space, visitor hub, tour meeting point, and home base for campaigns supporting Mission District businesses.

As part of the multi-agency initiative improving conditions around the 16th and 24th Street BART plazas, Mission Lotería produces Sábado Gigante, a recurring activation series that brings local vendors, artists, cultural programming, family-friendly activities, and community resources to the plazas. The next activation is scheduled for September 26, 2026, with monthly programming currently planned through December 19.

“Mission Lotería represents the best of District 9’s community ingenuity, bringing people together through creative and joyful events that celebrate, explore, and uplift local businesses and the arts,” said District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder. “Thanks to the Storefront Opportunity Grant, and to the Mission Lotería team who continue to dream big and put their ideas into action, they now have a storefront to call their own, while helping strengthen activations to improve the Mission Street corridor and Bart plazas.”

“Mission Lotería celebrates the culture and community of the Mission, and its new permanent home is exactly the kind of creative, locally rooted business we want to see opening across our city,” said Anne Taupier, OEWD Executive Director. “Through the Storefront Opportunity Grant, we are helping entrepreneurs invest in San Francisco and turning vacant spaces into active, welcoming places for residents and visitors.”

Mission Lotería’s grand opening comes during a wave of new storefronts opening this month thanks to support from the Storefront Opportunity Grant program. A range of locally owned retail, food, and cultural concepts are opening across the Mission, Tenderloin, Mid-Market, Chinatown, and downtown neighborhoods:

• Compton’s Coffee: The business’s third San Francisco location, at 359 Grant Avenue in Chinatown, anticipated to open later this month
• McMullen: A nationally recognized clothing boutique set to open at 135 Maiden Lane on September 25
• Niebla: A Mexican-owned bookstore and coffeeshop, which will open at 374 Golden Gate Avenue on September 17
• Sheba: A Middle Eastern clothing and specialty-goods shop, which will open at 318 Turk Street on September 18
• The Roar Shack: Mid-Market’s first new live music venue in over a decade, which celebrated its opening at 34 Seventh Street on September 9

“We're really excited to be in the final stages of the buildout and are really looking forward to the opening of our new store on Grant in the next couple of weeks,” said Aidan Compton, Owner of Compton’s Coffee. “This project has been made so much easier by the wonderful grant we received from the OEWD as well as the streamlined permitting process at the Planning Department. We would not have been able to rejuvenate this space as quickly as we have without this assistance from the city. We're eager to get open and bring some life, local energy, and delicious coffee to this bustling corner.”

“When I opened McMullen in 2007, I wanted to create a store where discovery felt personal,” said Sherri McMullen, Founder and CEO of McMullen. “Nearly two decades later, that vision hasn’t changed. Opening on Maiden Lane is an exciting new chapter for McMullen and for San Francisco’s fashion community. It gives us an opportunity to deepen our relationships with clients, champion the designers we believe in, and create a space that invites people to slow down, discover something unexpected, and connect with fashion in a meaningful way. We’re proud to contribute to the renewed energy of Maiden Lane and San Francisco’s vibrant retail community.”

“We believe that every neighborhood in San Francisco, in any city, needs a bookstore—and we noticed that the Tenderloin doesn’t have a bookstore currently,” said María Fernanda Ramírez, Owner of Niebla. “There is a big immigrant community here of working families, and the Tenderloin is at the center of the city.”

“There is a lot of stress when opening a business, but the city made it easy,” said Jalal Alabsi, Owner of Sheba. “They would meet with me, provide resources, and direct me to websites. When I finished a step, they would tell me what to do next.”

“After two years of pop-up performances, we're beyond excited to build a permanent home for artistic incubation in the heart of Mid-Market,” said Andy Meyerson, Artistic Director, The Living Earth Show. “The Storefront Opportunity Grant from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development is what made the leap from temporary to permanent possible. With the city's support, we've turned an empty room at 34 Seventh Street into an immersive, flexible venue where every show stays 100% pay-what-you-can. We want to prove that new, accessible, ambitious experimental work belongs on Market Street and that it emboldens San Francisco's creative spirit.”

The Office of Small Business, a division of OEWD, further supported the businesses opening—providing business counseling, leasing and permitting help, and access to pro bono architectural design services. The Storefront Opportunity Grant helps established businesses and organizations make the transition into new commercial spaces—bringing vacant spaces back into use, supporting local entrepreneurs, and adding new destinations to neighborhood commercial corridors.

The Planning Department also supported the businesses in navigating the permitting process. Through PermitSF, the city has passed 20 ordinances, including common-sense reforms to help businesses open their doors faster. With the digital portal, businesses no longer need to visit the Permit Center in person, and are instead able to log in, manage a permit, and make online payments from anywhere.