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Who We are and how did we get here?


In the early 1960's  Mendel and Sarah Herscowitz were selling house paint and linoleum at their store called U-Save Paint located on Haight Street near Masonic. In the mid 60's the rents soared and also Haight Street was a zoo.

The story goes that the landlord was going to increase the rent and  Mendel had friends a few blocks away who wanted to sell their property. In 1968 we moved into our current location selling art supplies and house paint. (The linoleum had been eliminated because it was heavy and with the hoards flocking the the Haight Ashbury, Mendel's customers had a hard time getting their vehicle close enough to the store to load up their flooring). Our store has a mezzanine which Sarah thought would be the perfect place to add sewing notions to the mix.

Mendel and Sarah had 3 children-- Bette, Louise and Maury.  Of the 3, Bette was the only one actively involved in the business and in 1978 she officially took the business over from her parents-- which allowed them to be "retired" which meant they could work when they wanted and only when they wanted.

Louise had 3 children, Naomi, Emily and Darrell, who would come over the Golden Gate Bridge to spend the weekend with their grandparents from time to time and that meant getting to go to the store to "help  out." 

 

 

In 1991, after graduating from High School and spending a year abroad, Naomi started working at the store with her aunt Bette.

In October of 2013, Bette passed away and the torch was officially passed to Naomi.

The store will continue changing with the times to carry on the family legacy under the direction of Naomi

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Contact Us
  •  415-621-1287
  •  sales@mendels.com
  • 1556 Haight Street
  • San Francisco, CA 94117