We bumped into this small business owner while canvassing District 7 as part of our ongoing coverage of Novemberโs supervisorial race.
Alex J. Sinclair has found himself in many places. At 11, he started selling sweets to kids at his boarding school in England. On his 16th birthday, he was awarded his license from a culinary school. As a teen, he starred in a pilot for a TV show that was set to air on Channel 4, a mainstream U.K. television channel. He later went on to start a film company, working in the entertainment industry in New York, before switching to educational publishing, and moving to Japan.ย
โI was originally going there to become a monk,โ Sinclair said. โBut that didnโt work out.โ
โI look good shaved,โ he added.ย
Instead, Sinclair worked for the Japanese Travel Bureau and dabbled in the โtaiko world,โ doing Japanese flute, drumming and dance.ย
โI just don’t know how to say no,โ Sinclair said, when asked about his many vocations.
Originally from Scotland, the 40-year-old moved to San Francisco 10 years ago. In 2022, he opened a cheese shop, Willow on the Green, at 1327 B Ninth Ave. near Irving Street in the Inner Sunset. He opened upย post-pandemic because he had experienced being stuck in the United States and unable to return home to enjoyย his favorite British food items.ย
On Thursday, Sinclair was standing at the counter at Willow on the Green, wearing an apron, coordinating orders over the phone and unboxing wheels of cheddar.ย
He uses the same research skills that he once used to be sourced stock images for educational publications and encyclopedias,
โThe excitement is when someone’s requested something that may still exist, and I know it exists, and then I just have to work out how to bring it into this world,โ Sinclair said.ย
Now, Sinclair hunts forย cheeses from Britain and Ireland: Red Dragon, Snowdonia Black Bomber, Wensleydale.
He sees Willow on the Green as a one-stop-shop for picnics to lay out at nearby Golden Gate Park.ย To offer a full basket, he also stocks selected wines, snacks and picnic baskets, as well as some pantry staples for expats in need of PG Tips, crumpets or Ambrosia custard.ย
โSomewhere, the cardiologists in the hospital are rejoicing that there’s a cheese shop in the neighborhood and probably giving them business,โ Sinclair said.ย
While the shop has proved popular among some locals, Sinclair said that business overall has been difficult. He works at the store seven days a week, generally for 11 hours a day. He previously had some staff working at the store, but cannot afford them now. He has poured much of his own savings into the store to keep it going.
โThatโs the price of small business,โ Sinclair said, shrugging.
Still, Sinclair seems optimistic, and continues to put the effort in to help the local business ecosystem, in partnership with the local merchantsโ association. On the weekends, there are cheese tastings at Willow on the Green and, often, live music. He specifically stocks jams and clotted cream to pair with scones made at Arizmendi, the bakery next door.ย
And, compared to the U.K., Sinclair says the United States is more forgiving when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners.ย
โThe U.S. is a place where if you fail and you stand back up, everyone claps. If you fail in the U.K., no one will work with you for the rest of your life,โ Sinclair said.