Results tagged “business”

              

Moving out of the LoRi (Lower Outer Rincon Hill)/South Park neighborhood, the folks at Twitter moved up Third Street to a sweeter, swankier pad.

            

Times are tough. Or so we've been told. So, in this economy it’s ideal to know where to go to get the most omph for your buck, especially if your tastes are a lot bigger than your wallet. For cocktails, obviously, it's happy hour (Bag Lady favors Orson Mon-Sat, and obviously the Castro for two-for-one’s anytime before 9 p.m.) For food it’s dining at home, or out during the week at any restaurant that has a special weekly or monthly price fix dining menus. Currently, Bar Bambino is at the top of the list with a 4-course dinner that will only set you back about $35. And for nightlife, it’s going out during the week when people are generally more unruly and “living life to the fullest.”

Look, a great outfit is a great outfit, we won’t argue with you. However, not many are aware that the real heart of a seamless look lies below the waist. I’m talking about your undergarments (Get your mind out of the gutter, some people might be trying to sleep there!) There is a significant difference in the way you move and feel when you know your underwear and socks rival the importance of what you’re wearing over it. Let’s face it, sooner or later those clothes are going to come off, and making a statement outside of your denim, trousers, etc. is sure way to send the message to your suitor that you care.

Today the Department of Energy announced a pretty big windfall of funding "for 37 ambitious research projects," ones that involve energy sources such as wind and solar, something crazily awesome about bacteria being used to to "produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide," and more. In total, the Golden State received $20.8 million in new funding to help improve the environment. Which, of course, is necessary.

              

Imagine if Cherie Currie and Suzi Quatro decided to move into together. Now, imagine if they had ti make ends meet by opening up their closets to the public, which also included the floor scores of past boyfriends, roadies, and late-night randoms who they’ve partied with throughout the years. Sprinkle in a pinch of Fleetwood Mac, smoke a little pot -- and you have CC Rider SF. A bad-ass bohemian treasure chest chock-full of vintage dresses, leather jackets, and feathered jewelry and accessories - items Stevie Nicks would have worn as a badge of honor.

Uh oh. According to AP, "Ken Lewis, the embattled CEO of Bank of America Corp., is leaving the company, succumbing to nearly a year of strife that followed his company's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co." This comes on the heels of his shareholders castrating stripping Lewis of his title away earlier this year. Now based in Charlottle, North Carolina, BofA has a corporate office at 555 California.

Well, this wasn't cool.

A Muni proposal is underway to "establish a 291 feet long Bus Terminus at Union & Fillmore," which we think it a might fine idea. Improvements to public transportation like this should be a top priority. But merchants in the Cow Hollow are up in arms. Why? Because they lack clarity. Proving to be as inane as Geary merchants (who, time after time, fail to see the bigger picture, resulting in years of curably crippled traffic) and Valencia business owners (elitists of the very worst kind), Union Street businesses worry that the "bendy" buses will ruin their precious gem of a neighborhood. The NIMBY's harrowing press release on the subject, which can be found in its entirety at SFCitizen, is a regular hoot.

Sheer heresy, right? To ban laptop power connectivity at your favorite cafes? Well, that's just what some cafes in New York City, according to a article, are doing in an effort to get squatters to shift it. See, many customers (including some of you right this very second) buy a cup of coffee, then set up shop at a cafe for hours and hours in between small sips -- basically, running a business or obtaining a pointless college degree from a cafe for mere pennies. Which, really, isn't a good thing for the cafe, whose power and free wi-fi most of you gobble up on a daily basis. They're businesses, not libraries. (Fine. Your SFist Editor must admit to, at times, running this site at SOMA's Epicenter Cafe or The Creamery. Guilty as charged. But we do wolf down at least three onion bagels with cream cheese while squatting, so, you know, we're not that bad. Anyway.)

While some of us are more than content with our MetroPCS phones (questionably referred to as GhettoPCS in less esteemed circles), people are finally getting their first iPhones. So much so that Apple sold 1 million of them in just five days after the iPhone 3G S went on sale last Friday. What's more, more than six million customers have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software, according to San Francisco Business Times. "After using a 1960's-era Motorola Razr for years, I couldn't be happier with the new iPhone. Now the last five years are starting to make more sense" squees one friend of SFist.) Although stock prices had dipped after news of Steve Jobs' health was made public over the last few months, their stock has shot up since then, "closing up nearly 80 percent from those lows on Friday at $139.48."

In what could be the most drama-inducing move to hit the internet in ages -- God willing -- Yelp has agreed to let businesses respond publicly to customers' critiques. Possibly in an effort to stave off continuing criticism of the alleged extorting business model, local enterprises can register for a free business owner's account. After an angry business owner posts a reply on the site, Yelp will alert the self-righteous reviewer by e-mail. And that? Is where the fun begins

We've been enjoying reading the onslaught of one- and two-star reviews about Yelp on its own site, ever since the extortion stories sprouted legs. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman denies the accusations, claiming the only things an advertiser pays for are a clearly-labeled "sponsored result" at the top of relevant search results pages, a photo slideshow of their business, and the option to highlight a favorite review.

Evil, culturally unrich, dastardly home improvement chain Lowe's is planning to open a store on Bayshore Boulevard. According to the SF Chronicle, it's in the negotiation stages. If you recall, a Home Depot planned on setting up shop in the same area, but backed out at the eleventh hour.

Now for some truly sad news,.Catherine and Kyle Fischer's Parkway Speakeasy Theater in Oakland is closing its door for good after 12 years. Here's the missive sent out today to fans of the eclectic East Bay theater.

Chipping away at the employment rate in the Bay Area, health corporation Kaiser Permanente plans to eliminate 275 jobs in Walnut Creek, Napa, and Pleasanton as it "restructures its information technology operations." The Oakland-based company will cut 860 jobs nationwide as part of their plan to have IBM mange most of heir data centers.

Owen Thomas at Valleywag has word that there might -- might! -- be "'major layoffs'" at Apple today. According to VW tipsters, "'all sales teams have mandatory meetings today'" and "'HR booked conference rooms in Cupertino.'" Is it true? Who knows. But we're here to spread the wild speculation. Stay tuned.

Coming as a surprise to no one, Sony plans on shutting down the PlayStation Store and SonyStyle Store at the Metreon complex. As near to the heart to PlayStation fans as the Apple store is to Mac sect members, the Metreon saw lines circling the block when they released the PlayStation 3 in 2006. But now, due to the recession (not to mention the Metreon's jarring feng shui), both Sony stores will close later this year. According to The New York Times, "the PlayStation store’s decline is an emblem of bigger problems with Sony, which has seen its fortunes turn from first place in the console business to third place." All of this boils down to one question: Should one get a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS?

Based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, The Orphanage went from a small visual effects company in a matter of 10 years with over 160 artists creating effects for more than two dozen major films like Ironman, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Superman Returns, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and more. Yesterday, Orphanage's Stu Maschwitz announced that the company will suspend operations indefinitely.

Tomorrow's the big day. The planning commission meeting is this Thursday, starting at 1:30. The hearing goes down in room 400 at City Hall. Oh, and Stephen Elliot at Stop American Apparel mentions the following advice that made us do a 180 on the local scribe: "Something to remember is that the planning commissioners are serving without pay. This is a volunteer, civil service position, so please be very respectful of them. Appreciate that they’re doing all of us a service." Hear, hear! Well said. We wish more people understood this.

Eater is a fantastic spot to read what's opening and hot in the Bay Area's gastronomic scene. We all know that. But these days, and we really do hate saying this, it's pressing our morbid curiosity button with all of the "shutters" going on in SF Take, for example, today's roundup of restaurant industry deaths, which include Atrium, Azie, Bar on Castro, Baraka, Breezy's, Cafe Revolution, Cafe de la Paz, Cetrella, Chopsticks, Deep Sushi, Geoffrey's, Jojo, Joseph Smith, La Vinoteca, La Taqueria (South Bay), Laurel's, Lola's, Lou's at the Square, Marche on the Square, Mecca, North Beach Lobster Shack, Pancho Villa, Pink, Tansitaro Michoacan, Scharffen Berger, and Wappo Bistro. Eater's Paolo Lucchesi goes on to say that while January is typically a hard month for the nightlife/food industry, this year, with the depression recession and all, it's been particularly bad. Sigh.

Concerned about your right to feel toasty, Duraflame has filed a lawsuit against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for their 'Spare the Air' days, which bans the burning combustible materials (i.e., Duraflame logs) on days brimming with notably unhealthy air. The lawsuit claims that the air quality district failed to prove the region's need to limit the use of their logs. Duraflame spokesman Chris Caron said, "The district has failed to follow procedures to define why fire logs should be included in the solid fuel wood category with firewood, and nor did they make an adequate attempt to quantify the effectiveness of the new control measures." We can't imagine this lawsuit will help the company in any way whatsoever, other than making them look like a greedy and anti-green company. But there you have it. Eight 'Spare the Air' days have been called since the winter season started.

An issue first brought up by the folks over at Mission Mission, the effort to stop American Apparel from opening shop on chic Valencia Street is awkwardly taking shape. SFist posted a highly scientific poll earlier in the week to see just how San Francisco residents felts about the oozy designer spilling his seed in the Mission district. The results are:

Oy. Citing an economic downturn, Microsoft plans on pruning up to 5,000 jobs in the next year and a half, or 5.5% of its global workforce. They will 'cleanse' over 1,400 gigs immediately, with the rest of the cuts coming by June 2010. This is the company first-ever mass job cut. And who's the blame? Bill Gates. According to Valleywag, "The problem with Microsoft is its financial performance is all too predictable. It has grown so large, its products so woven into the modern way of business, that its sales wax and wane with the economy; Microsoft no longer controls its own destiny, as its army of libertarian-minded geeks would prefer." Snap.

Even more bad news for local news station KRON. It seems Young Broadcasting Inc., which owns KRON, skipped out on a $6.125 million interest payment that was due Jan. 15. The interest payment was on a "8.75 percent senior subordinated notes due in 2014." And we have no idea what that means. Young owns 10 TV stations. According to SF Business Times, "it lost $22.2 million on sales of $36.2 million in the September quarter. In the nine months ended September, Young paid $2.625 million in principal payment on its credit facility." Young has 30 days to make the payment. Although Young is trying to sell KRON for almost a year, they have been unable to rid themselves of the former NBC affiliate. In addition to their fantastic morning news team, KRON airs original programming Henry's Garden, Bay Area Backroads, and... and we think that's it.

In struggle, the Stop American Apparel coalition will meet at The Makeout Room at 7 p.m. tonight to discuss their plans at stopping the clothing store from opening in the Mission. They'll have "full color posters for you to take with you as well as petitions and postcards." If you remember, a few comfortably wealthy folks in the Mission do not want an American Apparel store opening up in the neighborhood because getting old sucks, chains are allegedly ugly (never mind the fact that there is a Sketchers and McDonald's just one block down on the more Latino-laced Mission Street), and they would prefer to keep the area "a corridor of outstanding independent businesses." Judging by our poll, most of you don't care whether or not an American Apparel opens shop on posh Valencia Street. But for those of you who do, you can check out tonight's meeting. Bonus points go out to those of you who snap shots of yourselves wearing American Apparel at the meeting. Tee hee.

Mission Mission, the one true voice of the Mission district as far as we're concerned, brings up the American Apparel brouhaha. If you recall, American Apparel is dropping a spore smack dab on chic Valencia Street. And the people of skid row are up in arms over it. Or so it seems. As Allan Hough asks, "Is the whole neighborhood up in arms?

In what's being billed as the retail "hipster wars" of the Mission, 988 Valencia will soon call sleaze designer American Apparel home. That is, if the scraggly elite of the Mission get their way. Local scribe and former prostitute Stephen Elliott is none too thrilled about this "chain store" opening up, going on to clarify the following at stopamericanapparel.wordpress.com.

Since the Catholic Church is trying to shift property from one non-profit to another, San Francisco is now asking the ritual-heavy religious folks to pay up. Why? Well, according to San Francisco City Assessor Phil Ting, the move is considered "a change in ownership." The church, it seems, owes the city of San Francisco a whopping $15 million due to the transfer of more than 200 properties it owns between three separate nonprofit organizations. And the Archdiocese has three options: pay, fight the assessor in court, or leave the property as is. The church, however, claims it is being unfairly targeted.

Due to the ongoing recession, Google, who can do no wrong in our eyes, has let many of its temporary workers go. The Mountain View-based company, according to Business Week, has an estimated 4,300 interns, temporary workers and contractors. Just how many of these workers were pruned has yet to be revealed. This recent layoff goes along with Google's plans to "significantly reduce the number of its contractors and retain all of its full-time employees."

With corporate offices in Fremont and Mountain View, Logitech announced it will hand out 500 pink slips to employees this week. The cuts will affect middle management and higher, effectively cutting 15% of its workforce, according to reports. (Our condolences, guys.) Logitech produces keyboards, mice, cameras, speakers, gaming devices, and those pop-up notices that always seem to appear on our system.