Magazines Served Alongside Coffee, Ceramics

Once ubiquitous, particularly Downtown, the number of newsstands in San Francisco has decreased precipitously with the onset of the internet age. But a handful of magazine sellers have refused to die. Instead, they’ve adopted mutualistic strategies and live on, tucked inside other businesses. 

In Potrero Hill, a periodical display fills a corner of Farley’s. Roger Hillyard, who opened the coffeehouse in 1989, saw newspapers and magazines as an integral part of the business, his son Chris told the View. To properly display the reading material, Roger built custom bookshelves before opening the café. In the early years, the newsstand featured roughly 500 titles, sourced from as many as six distributors.

Today, under Chris and his wife Amy’s ownership, Farley’s carries about 200 titles from a single distributor as well as a smattering of smaller journals, such as Photographing Potrero Hill, obtained directly from their publishers. Although magazine sales aren’t a profit center, sales are steady, primarily titles related to design or fashion such as Wallpaper. The distributor takes back unsold stock for a credit. 

Profit isn’t the point. The availability of the written word is intended to enhance the Farley’s experience. While enjoying a tea or coffee, customers may read magazines without buying them. According to Chris, the no-purchase-required policy is inspired by his father’s memories of reading periodicals in shops as a kid only to be yelled at – “this ain’t no library” – and shooed away.  

An afternoon visit to Farley’s revealed a distinctive atmosphere. Most customers were chatting with their companions. No one was staring at their phone.  A few people had laptops out but they didn’t linger, perhaps because the coffeehouse doesn’t offer a wireless connection. One woman was reading a book as she sipped her coffee.

The custom magazine racks looked a bit empty, planned for a larger number of journals. Still, there was a wide variety of heritage and newly established titles. Publications were arranged by subject matter. The general interest section included the New Yorker and Monocle. A music and film module featured titles such as Rolling Stone, Cineaste, and Maggot Brain. The Panafold and Elle Décor were available as part of style and design offerings. An outdoors component contained a thumbed-through copy of Hemmings, a periodical focused on classic car sales listings. A variety of handmade zines were stocked. The View was next to the debut issue of another free newspaper, the San Francisco Gazetteer.

In Mission Creek, a newsstand established in 2017 complements Heath Ceramics’ dinnerware and other offerings. Housed in an alcove at the entrance of a former warehouse, the shop stocks more than 500 magazine and newspaper titles. Alongside the periodicals it sells a diverse set of small goods, including candles, umbrellas, clothing, travel guides and incense.

Charlotte, a Heath newsstand salesperson, told the View that the shop serves a varied group of customers. Neighborhood design professionals peruse the magazines for inspiration. One patron picks up a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle daily. Passerby and ceramics store customers browse everything.

Titles include those focusing on writing, the performing and visual arts, fashion – including international editions of Vogue – architecture and interior design, kids, food and travel. The most prominently displayed magazines are of a type one visitor called “upscale.” Printed on extra-heavy paper and boasting a high photograph-to-text ratio, these publications are as much art object as reading material. The newsstand also features a large selection of literary and book review titles, such as Grand, Granta, and the European Review of Books. Handmade zines aren’t stocked.

Quick online access to information and images has driven print magazines and newspapers to the edge of extinction. But these materials remain available, even abundant, in Potrero Hill and Mission Creek. And print may yet make a comeback. Perhaps surprisingly, the techies founding startups and renting apartments in the area may help: according to Charlotte, the Heath Newsstand employee, with their greater wealth tech types buy more.