- By Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer |
- Dec 11, 2024 Updated 20 hrs ago (SFExaminer.com)
Ulrich “Ubi” Conrad Simpson is a fashion-industry entrepreneur who has repeatedly spun gold from whole cloth, most recently with a line of denim and canvas kitchen and garden products, some of which Oprah Winfrey has put on her famed Favorite Things lists.
Now Simpson is looking to create magic in the giant, vacancy-filled San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street, where his Mi Cocina company has leased a 4,100-square-foot spot on the second floor for a retail showroom and headquarters.
“We can all get a piece of this pie, and we can create a community and a really good environment where people will come and go, ‘Wow! These guys are really doing something different,’” said Simpson, 54, as he sketched out his vision for a store that will also serve as a community hub with regular events around book signings, food and music.
Simpson’s Mi Cocina’s products — aprons, oven mitts, place settings and more — are sold at more than 200 retailers in the United States, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Black Bird Bookstore in the Outer Sunset.
Previously, Simpson has designed for brands that include Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Diane Von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. His professional stops have included New York, Spain and Guatemala.
In his new downtown-mall store, Simpson had products displayed in various settings around a large empty space that could make for a dance floor. In one corner, there was a turntable and headphones awaiting a DJ’s touch. A 1984 movie about breakdancing played on a wall.
On one wall, there was a diorama of a camping scene using Simpson’s products. Across the room, there was an electric guitar, microphone stand and amplifier set up for Simpson’s 10-year-old daughter to perform.
Behind his long desk, meanwhile, was a long row of art books, part of the trove Simpson has collected over 35 years.
What is essential, Simpson said, is that in a time when digital purchasing is ubiquitous, retailers must offer customers experiences that they won’t find online.
“It doesn’t have to be about exclusivity. What it is is really an experience,” said Simpson, who wants to incorporate technology in inventive ways, for example by deploying devices to enable customers to upload data about products that interest them.
A surfer and snowboarder, Simpson splits time between The City and Sea Ranch in Sonoma County.
Simpson said his father was a protestant minister from Venezuela and his mother, from Puerto Rico, worked as an accountant, so he grew up speaking both English and Spanish, the latter of which has been invaluable for conversing with the people who produce his clothes, which are made almost completely in the U.S., The company has a factory in San Francisco and several in Los Angeles, he said.
Simpson said he operates his company with no staff other than himself, relying on freelancers, and his products are ethically sourced and produced, with 1% of sales pledged to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. He even does fashion photography.
He said he got the idea to move to San Francisco Centre via a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce contact when he needed new digs to replace his old office on Pier 54. He was one of the tenants displaced recently for safety reasons because of structural problems with the pier.
Simpson said he is trying to recruit a restaurant owner he knows to set up shop in one of the empty spaces upstairs from his shop.
He said he is also hopeful about talk of a new movie theater possibly soon opening in the mall, where previous operator Cinemark shut down its multiscreen operation in June 2023, shortly after the mall’s prior management company walked away from its mortgage on the property, formerly known by the Westfield name. A court appointed a receiver, and real-estate company JLL is managing the mall.
An auction on the lien on the mall with its $625.6 million of defaulted debt was noticed to occur last month but was postponed until Dec. 17.
Simpson is clear that he does not see his future depending on the property’s fortunes.
“I’m not betting on the mall — I’m betting on me, right? I always bet on me,” he said. “I could be anywhere within The City, right?”
But Simpson credited Lane Wade, San Francisco Centre’s general manager, with embracing his vision and said he has high hopes. Simpson also praised the mall’s managers for having implemented strong security measures.
“We’re thrilled to have a locally born business join our collection of dining, shopping and entertainment offerings,” Wade said in a prepared statement.