Category: San Francisco, California Local News

An unlikely tenant is stepping forward to move into the Union Square cable car turnaround’s vacant One Powell Street storefront — the very AT&T store that moved out of that storefront two and a half years ago.

It barely registered as a blip when AT&T announced it was closing its flagship retail store at One Powell Street in the summer of 2023, considering the announcement came just one day after the dying Westfield Centre Mall’s Cinemark cinema complex had just closed out of the blue, and retailers like T-Mobile and Old Navy were already dropping like flies from the Union Square retail landscape. And then just a few months later, the Union Square Macy’s closure announcement pretty much knocked all other retail closure news out of the headlines.

But now, a full two-and-a-half years after that AT&T store closure announcement, the SF Business Times has the rather surprising news that AT&T is returning to the very One Powell Street storefront they left in 2023. And that news comes directly from AT&T director of external affairs Cammy Blackstone, who declared at an SF Chamber of Commerce event last week that AT&T was “reopening our store in Union Square.”

“San Francisco still has challenges. We know that — economic uncertainty, downtown recovery, workforce transitions and the broader question of what our city will become next,” Blackstone said at the event. “But the bright spots are real. And that optimism we’re all feeling, it’s legit. Companies are moving back to the city.”

The SF Business Times was unable to get a confirmation on reopening date. AT&T currently has ten other retail locations in San Francisco.

But it’s something of a novelty that one of the SF retail stores that bolted during the “doom loop” narrative era is not just reopening, but reopening at the exact same address at which it has previously closed. And there is certainly wind at the back of Union Square’s sails, with the recent openings of the Nintendo Store, Pop Mart of Labubu fame, plus Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak and Steph Curry collab the Eighth Rule.

And as a funny reminder about that One Powell Street location that is going to be an AT&T Store again, we will point out that up until 2016, that place was a Forever 21.

Related: Good News for Union Square, as Bang & Olufsen Is Returning, in the Old Britex Fabrics Location [SFist]

Image: Google Street View

Meet all the horse statues just installed around San Francisco to celebrate the Lunar New Year’s Year of the Horse, as these intricately designed horse monuments now adorn SF parks, markets, and public spaces.

You may have noticed that all of the San Francisco Lunar New Year Celebrations are starting a little later than normal this year. That’s because the Lunar New Year itself starts a little later than normal this year. Tuesday, February 17 is the first day of this year’s Year of the Horse, and the SF Chinese New Year Parade is not until Saturday, March 7.

But one beloved annual SF Lunar New attraction is already out in full horse force. The popular statues of the Chinese New Year zodiac signs are back, this year with custom-made horses to ring in the Year of the Horse.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce has once again commissioned Year of the Horse on Parade statues that are now placed around town in the above locations. SFist got pictures of each of the horses in their new pastures.

MY LUCKY PONY by STEPHANIE MUFSON

Lucky Supermarket (1515 Sloat Boulevard)

Once again, the Lakeshore Lucky Supermarket has a zodiac statue that they’ve adorned with colorful on-theme items like oranges, orchids, and lilies (and Heinekens) that spark crazy Lunar New Year joy.

The galloping My Lucky Pony is from designer Stephanie Mufson, owner of Parade Guys, which builds the floats you see every year in the Chinese New Year Parade.

KINETIC POP by ROBIN (DEYI) ZHAO

Chase Center (One Warriors Way)

Among all the Senor Sisig, Burma Love, and giant jumbotron videoboard action you’ll see at Chase Center’s Thrive City, you’ll also find artist Robin Zhao’s whimsical horse called Kinetic Pop for the duration of the Lunar New Year celebration season.

Yes, this little horse has a fistful of lucky envelopes for the  handing out this Lunar New Year season. And since it’s the Chase Center, we see some unbridled love for both Warriors blue and Valkyries purple.

These Year of the Horse on Parade statues will remain on display at these locations through March 15, 2026.

Related: Photos: Giant Dragon Statues Ring In the ‘Year of the Dragon’ In SF [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

Kurt Van Dyke, a well-known surfer from a prominent Santa Cruz family of surfers who also own Van Dyke Farms in Gilroy, was killed by armed intruders Saturday in his home on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast where he was a longtime hostel owner.

As the Chronicle reports, two armed intruders broke into the Costa Rica apartment of 66-year-old Kurt Van Dyke Saturday, tied the hands and feet of Van Dyke and his 31-year-old girlfriend, who authorities identified by her last name, Arroyo, and held them in a room for several minutes. As the Costa Rican paper the Tico Times reports, the intruders then reportedly assaulted Van Dyke and fled with some of the couple’s valuables, including one of their vehicles.

Per the Chronicle, it’s unclear what happened during the events leading up to Van Dyke’s death, but his body was found under a bed with a sheet over his head. He appeared to be asphyxiated and had multiple stab wounds, and there was reportedly a knife found next to his body.

“My brother was a very benevolent, giving person who would help just about anybody,” Kurt’s brother, Peter Van Dyke, told the Chronicle over text. “Kurt would never hurt anybody, and he was always there when you needed him. Everyone that he met knew this about him.”

The Chronicle reports that Van Dyke was the owner of Hotel Puerto Viejo, a popular hostel in the beach town of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, which is a short drive from his home in the town of Cahuita, both located in the southern portion of the Limón province. The paper notes that while drug trafficking and other types of organized crime are present in the province, the small beach towns where Van Dyke spent his time are typically limited to petty crimes, such as theft, pickpocketing, and break-ins.

“We have the Police delegation in Playa Negra, the cantonal, which is the most modern in the country,” wrote Roger Sams, president of the Southern Caribbean Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, per the site Surfer. “We are working hand in hand on security issues. It shocks us and hurts us, because the Caribbean has been very calm.”  

“There have been no cases of violence reported like this against tourists. In recent months there has been no violence or assaults,” Sams continued. “This is an isolated case, he is the owner of a hotel, not a tourist, it has not to do with tourists and the people who come to visit us.”

As the site Islands.com reports, gang and drug trafficking-related crimes have historically been centered around the province’s capital, Puerto Limón, but the opening of a new port there in 2019 has resulted in the spread of organized crime and trafficking into surrounding areas. Per the site, homicides in Puerto Limón account for 25% of all the homicides in the country.

Per the Chronicle, Van Dyke, who got his first surfboard at age 7, was born in Santa Cruz to Gene and Betty Van Dyke, two pioneering, surf-loving parents who were also prominent in the farming community, as the family has owned Van Dyke Ranch in Gilroy’s Gavilan Mountains for 60 years.

“Kurt loved the ocean, our farm, animals and his family,” said Peter Van Dyke, per Surfer. “It’s a very sad time because of all the great memories we have growing up together, farming and surfing.”

“We remember your spirit, your energy, and the light you brought into the lives around you,” wrote a friend of Van Dyke on social media. “Some people leave footprints — you left waves.”

Image: Kurt Van Dyke/Facebook