Mel Eligon and Austin McManus opened their San Francisco business before they had a San Francisco home.
At first, for the four days a week that their store, Public Land, is open, the pair and their young daughter crashed at their friends’ places in the city. On other days, they stayed at their Sacramento home and drove two hours to the store at 201 Clement St. at Third Avenue in the Inner Richmond.
Now, they switch off, with Eligon or McManus operating the store while the other stays in Sacramento with their five-year-old. They’ve been in this back-and-forth since June 21, when they first opened.
Eligon and McManus plan to move to the city soon. In the meantime, this is the sacrifice they’re willing to make for a store born of the pair’s passion for natural landscapes and a shared belief that a highly curated store with handmade items will do well.
Its name, Public Land, comes from their love of camping and exploring in places like the Mojave Desert, where you can pitch a tent in remote areas.
Luckily, this store isn’t their first rodeo. Tired of working for others, Eligon and McManus, partners and co-owners, opened the first Public Land location in Sacramento in 2018. While they focus on the San Francisco location, the original Sacramento store is being run by longtime employees.
Before opening their business, they lived in Los Angeles, and Eligon worked in fashion, styling shoots, while McManus worked for a magazine and took photos. They left these roles to open Public Land, though they still consult on interior design.
“We wanted to create something that was our own,” McManus said. “I think that we both realized that we were just working for people that didn’t really value us as much as we valued what we were doing.”
In 2017 they moved from Los Angeles to Sacramento on a whim, and noticed a limited number of artistic stores that offered unique gifts. And so, Public Land was born.
The original location is plant-focused and also offers homeware and art. Their new location on Clement Street has fewer plants and more home goods, but remains true to the original message of appreciating the natural world.
“I was inspired by spaces that you walk in, you’re like, ‘wow, what’s the story behind this?’” McManus said.
Both have a history in San Francisco. McManus lived here for about 12 years and Eligon for six. Now, the two want to be back in San Francisco so they can reintegrate into the art community, as well as raise their daughter in a city surrounded by art and culture.
When they got the idea to open a Public Land in San Francisco, McManus got in touch with the owner of the nearby Parklife store — his friend, Jamie Alexander, who occupied the 201 Clement St. space as Parklife 2. Alexander was willing for Public Land to take over the lease.
The Richmond “couldn’t have been better to support this endeavor,” Eligon said. What makes the store unique, she said, is that it doesn’t subscribe to what she calls the grocery store effect: Walking into a store and seeing shelves filled with options. Instead, Public Land is picky, trading less merchandise for a higher caliber of offerings.
Their space is small but, even so, each product gets its own space, whether it be the pots on the floor or the homeware higher up. A Southern California-grown tree they brought into the space rests in the middle of the room, surrounded by a custom circular display containing homeware, candles, and other goods.
“To my current knowledge, nothing that I sell here is sold in any of the other stores on the street,” Eligon said. “To me, it defeats the purpose of having a specialty boutique when what you sell isn’t special to you.”
Intentional sourcing of products is critical to their mission, Eligon added, which means buying much of their inventory from artists they support.
For most of the products they sell, they have only one degree of separation from their creators; many are friends. For example, the pair have known the cofounder of Rose, a CBD and THC edible brand, for years. The edibles offer “a fine dining experience for gummies,” McManus said, with variations including Apple Ume Ginger, Deep Sleep and Higher Energy.
Additionally, there is “an underlying environmental ethos” to what they offer. Other than the pots, nothing is manufactured.
They’ve also built knowledge of each of their products, making it easy to answer customer questions or give curated suggestions.
They are generally self-taught plant aficionados, but have acquired knowledge of different species through the cactus and succulent society in Sacramento, as well as through McManus’ half-year plant internship under a University of California, Davis, professor.
Xerophytic specimens, like cacti and succulents, are most popular among customers. Many customers ask about best watering practices and how to properly care for plants.
When a customer came in on a recent Friday, asking about a particular plant, McManus explained: It’s a slow grower that does best in minimal light.
“As long as it’s alive, it’s good,” he joked to the customer.
So far, Sunday has been their busiest day because of the nearby Clement Street Farmers Market. They estimate 50 to 60 people enter their storefront per hour while the market operates. On weekdays, when they’re open, Thursdays and Fridays, things are slower, at least until Friday afternoon.
“People just don’t know we exist,” Eligon said about their first month in business. “Our customers are 100 percent here. They just don’t know that we’re here too.”
Great addition to this neighborhood. Best of luck.
The most beautiful space! Spend all your money here.
Their location isn’t the busiest part of Clement, but I consider it the safest neighborhood in The City.