For the first chapter of her new life in America, Janet Zeng kept her head down.
She worked in a factory and at her brother’s grocery store. Yes, she was fulfilling other people’s dreams — but so what? She was in San Francisco.
Then, in late 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zeng found something of her own. An empty storefront at 2102 Irving St. in the Sunset.
After eight months of paying rent on the vacant space while she waited for the city to approve her small business paperwork, “Siu Wah Food” opened in August 2021 and hung a Grand Opening sign.
“It’s not about making money but about making something special in my life,” said Zeng. “Even if it fails.”
Two years later, a second Asian grocer opened and hung a similar banner across the street. A year later, a third banner went up a few shops over.
It’s 2026. The same now-tattered “Grand Opening” signs still billow above all three storefronts.
“We’re just too lazy to take it off,” said Zeng. And later, she admitted: “We can attract more people by saying, ‘Oh, it’s a grand opening.’”
Numerous people told Mission Local that the “Grand Opening” banners are neither distinct to the Sunset nor to the Asian American community. Whether it’s perennial “LIQUIDATION!” signs hung in New York City rug store, or antique shops in Spain with “70% off” banners, small business survival culture transcends geography and nationality.
But on Irving Street, the banners have their own particular texture. Akina Zheng works 60-hour weeks at 2130 Irving St, a seafood-and-dry-goods shop. This is the second seafood location for Zheng; she operates another seafood shop right up the street, at 2227 Irving St.
“No, we are not successful,” said Zheng, after being congratulated on being successful enough to expand. “We earn just a little bit!” she said.
“‘Chinese people don’t care!’ said Rio Zhao, a server at the nearby dumpling shop Mini Potstickers; meaning, she explained, that her customers come for the food, not the décor.
A manager at 2227 Irving Seafood Market since it opened in 2015 laughed when a reporter asked about the “Grand Opening” banner partly covered in dust, its edge in fringes. Why was it still here after a decade?
“There’s no need” to take it down, he said in Mandarin as he sliced chunks of pork and arranged them neatly into a styrofoam container.
And, in fact, it’s not bad for business. Ivan Light, professor emeritus of the sociology of immigration at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that on a 250-foot-wide block with four grocery stores, a “Grand Opening” banner offers a competitive advantage.
“If you take that sign down, what are you? You are another invisible grocery store in a sea of invisible grocery stores.”
As for why anyone would want to open another grocery store in a strip of grocery stores, Light said, for immigrants, they offer “an ethnic commodity. You have, in a way, a captive market.”
The Seafood Market at 2227 Irving St., Zheng’s first seafood grocery store, opened 11 years ago. But yes, a battered red-on-white lettered “Grand Opening” banner still adorns the facade. At the new store, she said, their “sign guy threw it in for free as part of a package.”
The original location is being renovated soon, Zheng said. Will she replace the “Grand Opening” sign?
“No! Of course not. We’ll take it down.” Or not.
Some younger Asian-American business owners in the Sunset say brandishing a “Grand Opening” banner is something that older immigrants do. Steven Lee, co-owner of Sunset Commons, a crafts cafe, says he wanted to take down his “Grand Opening” sign after a month.
“The folks that leave the Grand Opening sign up — those kinds of businesses are super scrappy, maybe it’s an immigrant family that’s been running a store for decades.”
Not so fast, said Steven’s wife, Carmen.“It’s interesting, because I do view myself as a scrappy business person. I’d do anything to keep my business going.”
Additional reporting by Junyao Yang.
Wonderful article. Reminds me of an old magazine cartoon that shows a father and his son standing on the sidewalk looking at his Time Square discount store with its perennial ‘Lost Our Lease,’ ‘Close Out Sale,’ and ‘Everything Must Go Now’ signs.
“My boy,” the man proudly says. “Someday this will all be yours.”
Like Otto said of the “Stoner’s Pot Emporium” . . . “That’s flagrant false advertising, man.”
Thank you ML. I appreciate this explanation for a longstanding urban curiosity. My question for these merchants is why their signs always address the street instead of the sidewalk. With 4 green grocers in a row pedestrians can’t read the awnings. Malls and galleries use blade signs to draw the attention of walkers.