With all of the pandemic puppies and kittens that we adopted over the last couple of years, I've heard some vets are very tightly booked out and short-staffed. So, it's good to see a new vet with a new business model take on space at the old Anthropologie space. The photo is a bit shadowy because it was near sunset and the tree we fought so hard to save during the Safeway project is still casting its shadow on Primrose.
I'll be interested to see how this $149 per year membership service from Dr. Treat works out. I burn through more than $150 over the course of a year pretty regularly at my vet (which I love). It's good to see this space occupied and without having to resort to the tactics EssEff has embraced. The SF Examiner piece about a cafe on Cole St. that could not come to terms on a lease renewal has the numbers:
The City adopted a commercial vacancy tax in 2020. Its aim, in part, was to incentivize landlords to keep their storefronts occupied, thus providing more negotiating power to small businesses. Like most taxes, it’s complicated and contains a number of exceptions. In designated business districts, the vacancy tax amounts to $250 per linear foot of storefront that faces the public right of way — if that storefront has been left empty for six months or more that year. The tax escalates to $500 per foot in the second year and $1,000 per foot in the third year and beyond.
Storefronts on Cole Street are about 25 feet wide, meaning the tax would amount to roughly $6,250 in the first year — less than what the Reverie was paying in rent per month.
Yet another bad idea that I hope doesn't work its way down the Peninsula.
Almost like clockwork, when I make a new post, something that is related pops into my view. From the Friday WSJ:
Not even the family cats and dogs are immune from inflation-driven cutbacks.
With the cost of pet food up 15% year-over-year and pets and pet products up 12%, according to the January consumer-price index, owners are making changes. Pet toy purchases are down 16% year-over-year as of February, according to a Jefferies Group analysis of NielsenIQ data, and sales of pet housing are down 21%.
People often treat their pets like children. But elevated inflation means many are struggling to afford taking care of themselves and their kids. Pet owners are now getting rid of Buddy’s raw-food diet and Bella’s monthly treat and toy subscription box. They are also baking their own treats and driving hours for less-expensive vet care.
Roughly half of the 1,000 pet owners surveyed by consumer-insights platform Zappi for The Wall Street Journal this month actively took steps to reduce pet-care costs in the past year. A little over a quarter skipped or delayed a pet’s vet visit or routine medication on purpose to save money, and 49% opted for at-home grooming instead of paying a professional. One-tenth gave a pet away due to rising costs.
------------------
That last sentence is heart-breaking............
Posted by: Joe | February 20, 2023 at 07:12 PM