Content about San Francisco

Back in June, Home Depot said it intended to defend its position as power tool market share leader. Now the giant chain finds itself a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Orchard Supply Hardware.

In a 43-page complaint, San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard said it's being iced by power tool makers Milwaukee and Makita at the urging of the world's largest home improvement retailer. "Orchard Supply vs. Home Depot, Milwaukee Electric Tool and Makita USA" was filed in December in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. OSH claims the defendants are running an unlawful group boycott.

In a pilot now being conducted in San Francisco, the U.S. Postal Service is experimenting with a same-day delivery service of e-commerce packages. The project, called “Metro Post,” will begin on or about Dec. 12 in San Francisco and run for the next 12 months, according to John Friess, a public relations representative for the postal service.

If all goes well, the Post Office has selected more than two dozen cities that are large, densely populated metro areas that could support the Metro Post business model, according to Friess.

California cities dominate the top-ten Eco-Friendliest Cities list assembled by small business-oriented web site thumbtack.com

San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose rank one, two and three on the list, which measures the per capita prevalence of a representative group of ten types of green services. More details about the data are here.

Here are the top ten eco-friendly cities from the list:

Tuggy’s Hardware, a fixture in the Noe Valley section of San Francisco, is closing its doors, KGO-TV reported.

The 114-year-old business is owned by Denny Giovannoli, who is retiring. He began working there, helping his father, when he was 12 years old. The building is being leased to another business.

After pulling out of a long-planned store project in San Francisco, Home Depot is looking once again at opening its first location inside the city. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the home improvement retailer has filed an application with the city to build a 120,000-sq.-ft. store on 7.9 acres in the Bayview section. 

The PayPal pilot at Home Depot stores is rapidly expanding, going from 51 test locations in the San Francisco Bay Area this week to all 2,000 Home Depot stores by the end of March, according to Bloomberg News.

PayPal director of communications Anuj Nayar told Bloomberg the digital commerce company will extend the trial to 20 additional retail partners by the end of 2012.

Of all the problems that lead to customer-service problems at home improvement stores, “out of stock” is the most common.

At least that’s the findings from a recent consumer study performed by MarketTools, a global research firm based in San Francisco, which asked 1,000 consumers: “Have you experienced any type of customer service problem with a home improvement retailer in the past 12 months?”

San Francisco-based Cole Hardware's Community Partner Assistance Program, now in its 17th year, is expanding through a gift registry to include groups that can register for needed supplies or ongoing wish lists.

"We are happy to be a part of the San Francisco community and are pleased to assist the schools and non-profits in San Francisco doing their part to make our city the best place to live," said Julia Strzesieski, marketing coordinator for Cole Hardware.

According to San Francisco's ABC7 News, Tuggy's Hardware, which opened in 1898, continues to advise customers on the art of home improvement in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.

The article quotes Denny Giovanolli, who began working at Tuggy's when he was 12. One of the keys to the store's longevity, especially in an age of national chains, is its knowledge of local homes and the parts needed to keep them running.

A group of 19 California homeowners who bought their homes between 2004 and 2006 -- each with a 20% or more down payment -- won the right to sue D.R. Horton, Richmond American, Shea Homes, Lennar Homes and other production home builders for devaluing their properties with risky lending practices. 

A survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 consumers conducted by San Francisco-based research firm MarketTools suggests that their next home improvement project will most likely take place in some room other than the kitchen or bathroom.


Almost a third of future projects were described as “other room” in the study, conducted July 8 to 10 using MarketTools ZoomPanel of opted-in consumers. 


San Francisco -- Builders, architects and their suppliers gathered here June 22 for the PCBC conference, a three-day event whose theme this year -- "Forget the Rear View Mirror" -- reflected the ongoing changes that continue to reshape the building industry. Green building, for example, has evolved into "sealing the building envelope," and many vendors showed products that promise to create airtight, energy-efficient building.