September 2006 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

The new group Church Street Business (see story) is getting started at the same time that the long-established Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association is changing its leadership.

On Sept. 1, Carol Yenne, owner of Small Frys clothing store, will hand over the reins of the association to two Noe Valley business owners: Diane Barrett and Teresa Gay.

Barrett owns Indigo V, a gift and florist shop that has been in the neighborhood since 1990--first on Castro Street and now on 24th Street. Gay is the proprietor of Wardrobe 911 (formerly La Coterie), a style consultancy operated out of her home on 26th Street.

The new co-presidents share many of the same goals as their predecessor.

"We're really interested in people who come to visit the city coming to Noe Valley," says Barrett.

Barrett would like visitors to San Francisco to think of Noe Valley as a tourist destination that is just a few blocks over the hill from the Castro. "We see it as an opportunity for people to enjoy our neighborhood as well."

The association will also continue to support its members--as well as neighborhood residents--with special sales and events such as the annual Hayride (on Oct. 21) and the Noel Stroll in December.

"As usual, we are interested in promoting businesses," says Barrett.

She will co-chair her first meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 27, when the group convenes at 9 a.m. at the Bank of America branch at 24th and Castro.

Meanwhile, Carol Yenne, who served a three-year term as president, which is longer than most, says, "I had a lot of fun" in the job.

In her last newsletter, written in August, Yenne listed a number of accomplishments the association had achieved over the past few years: "modifying the restaurant zoning for 24th Street, creating new parking, creating a higher profile for the neighborhood through the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and Where magazine, creation of the first Noe Valley Guide with Rugged Elegance, hosting parties and events to honor and celebrate small businesses, to network and to have fun.

"We also worked together with other neighborhood organizations to get the Harvest Festival going, raise awareness of earthquake safety, and raise money for the Noe Valley Library," Yenne wrote.

"Finally we helped to create the Noe Valley Community Benefit District, which will have a lasting positive effect on the neighborhood for years to come."

Yenne's parting words to her fellow merchants were: "Get involved, engage yourselves in the process and the organization. You will find that you get more out of it than you give, and in the process, make new friends."

To contact the new co-presidents, call Teresa Gay at 415-336-6304 or Diane Barrett at 415-647-2116.