Clement Street’s ‘Death Block’ Comes to Life

By Allison Lee
Special to AsianWeek

Clement Street, between Arguello and Second Street in San Francisco’s Richmond District, was once referred to by the editor-in-chief of the Richmond Review as “the death block.” Businesses have had nothing but the worst of luck in this small strip, which is strange because just a few blocks away on Clement and Fourth Street, the area bustles with a mix of shops, bars and restaurants that is one of the liveliest places in the district.

But the morbidity is lifting. In place of family-owned laundromats and shoe repairs shops is a new breed of sophistication. Asian Pacific American women are leading the charge.

Filipina American Celeste Friedman owns a boutique named Bontica — in partnership with two other young APA women from Singapore, and Liling Pang, the marketing force behind the store.

When customers enter her business, Friedman engages them sincerely, welcoming them into her paradise of sweet smelling fragrances, fashionable jewelry, tea bars and more. This is not the type of shop that one can scan for a minute and then leave. With suggestive palm leaves, cedar panels and steel drum music, Bontica has a classy appeal — reminiscent of a gift shop you would find in a resort. After all, this is Friedman’s goal.

Pang explained, “We try to take women away from their stressed-out corporate life to a 30-minute vacation with an international, South East Asian theme.”

The question then is, why this area?

“We wanted to be in an unpretentious location where people could feel comfortable versus a place where you feel you have to be a someone. Also, we really wanted to reach a wider audience.”

Friedman loves her products, which range from handcrafted bags by a Lebanese women’s cooperative to Japanese tea bags compressed into tiny heart shapes.

“The bottom line is I want women to feel good about themselves inside and out,” explains Friedman. Along with the two other APA women — who run a skincare shop on the building’s top floor — they make a collective effort to give customers the full vacation treatment. She even accommodates the grumpy, uninterested man by providing a “boyfriend chair” for those tired of following their girlfriends around all day.

As fun and exciting as Bontica’s business may seem, Friedman and Pang are taking serious measures of crossing out every imaginable stereotype attributed to Asian women. These are working women running their own businesses, free from traditional ideas of oppression that say a woman’s place is underneath a man.

“We are encouraging women to delve deeper into their culture and enjoy life [instead of just] following the immigrant tradition of being highly efficient and working extremely hard,” Pang said.

Friedman and Pang are not the only ones breathing life back into the block. Michiko Fukumoto, a Japanese American hairdresser, has been part of the block for many years. Fukumoto, who at one time during the 1980s ran her own salon with 23 workers beneath her, testifies to the major transformations she has witnessed.

“This block used to resemble Union Street,” says Fukumoto. “There were stores with beautiful dresses. It was a more upscale community.”

She agrees that this block is making a comeback. But what she finds unique is the conviction behind women like Friedman and others.

Having gone through a divorce in 2000, Fukumoto sold her place and now rents space in the salon A Plus Hair. She hardly considers this time in her life a setback. Instead she exclaims, “Yes!” as a sign of relief.

“This is a woman’s world. No longer do we have to live in a man’s world,” she exclaims boldly.

Her years of experience, in both business and life, add to the strong vision Fukumoto has for the area. As for the future, she comments, “I don’t know the best way to go about things, but I really want to help in something.”

Fukumoto adds that she is overjoyed to meet others, such as Pang, who share in her vision. The future looks positive. She confirms, “One thing we have is the guts.”