The true San Franciscan will never forsake this City’s downtown.

SAN FRANCISCO – DOWNTOWN

Liz and Lee Heidhues 6.20.2025

The true San Franciscan will never forsake this town.

**The temperature was a windy 59 degrees at noon on Montgomery and Sutter Street**

On the Summer Solstice, a cold day in San Francisco, we ventured downtown to the place we have spent our time and money boosting the city’s economy and seeing the sites for decades.

**Patrick & Co. a historic 150 year old business on Market Street.**

**Liz stretches out her purchase of hard to find large size rubber bands at Patrick & Co. on Market Street.**

Fortunately, despite the economic tumult impacting this international city brought on by the pandemic there are still businesses which have survived and still prosper.

**Maxferd J&L which calls itself the “Oldest Pawn Shop in the Country” at the corner of Kearny and Sutter Street.**

On this day we shopped at several of them and poured some money into the economy.

**The Sherman Clay & Co. building on Sutter Street.**

The 150 Patrick & Sons Stationery store; Cinta Aveda Beauty School and historic Macy’s in Union Square

**Liz holding her purchase from Aveda as a smoker eyes the blogger.**

Sadly there are too many boarded up businesses which gives downtown a somewhat morose feeling. Which proves that the City’s full recovery from the pandemic will always be problematic.

People got accustomed to sitting at home and shopping on-line.

**Liz disembarks the 38R Muni bus to begin her Summer Solstice shopping trip.**

Market Street which has been car free since 2020 has become a pedestrian, cyclist and public transit thoroughfare making it a much friendlier place to shop and dine.

Brick and mortar shopping has been dealt a serious blow. Not just in San Francisco. But countrywide in America.

**A 4th of July display at Patrick & Co., the 150 year old brick and mortar store, awaits the intrepid shopper**

**The Wilkes Bashford store. The place for the well connected politically and socially in San Francisco to shop for clothes.**

**Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland on Sutter Street.**

**A local citizen takes a nap on the Union Square steps.**

While downtown Liz chatted up the store clerks in Macy’s. One clerk in “The Cellar, where foods and housewares can be found, is May, a native daughter. We traded stories about the schools both of us and our kids attended in our youth. An integral part of San Francisco lore is to learn which high school you attended.

**Everyone shops at Macy’s. Even an SFPD officer on his break.**

Upstairs on the the 7th floor we found the same sales associate who helped us during a holiday shopping trip in December 2023. She is stationed right next to the Cheesecake Factory and, as decades long Macy’s shoppers, she made sure we got the best sale prices for our purchase.

**The well stocked shopper on the way home after pouring several hundred dollars into the local economy. Proof that people of all ages still appreciate what San Francisco has to offer.**

**The final stop**. **Liz and Lee toted our haul into the lobby of the Union Square Building where Liz renewed acquaintances with the concierge Andre. A venue where Liz taught ESL as a Berlitz Language School instructor**.

Before catching the Muni 38R bus home in front of the Westin St. Francis Hotel Liz chatted up the longtime Concierge “Andre” at the historic Union Square Building at the corner of Geary and Powell Streets. Liz taught ESL at the Berlitz Language School in this building and explained San Francisco’s vibrant street life just outside their classroom window which enthralled students from all over the world.