http://bayanime.com/forums/ San Francisco Bay Area community for fans of anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:31:38 +0000 http://bayanime.com/forums/topic/haruhi-movie-in-sf#post-2141 Thu, 20 May 2010 22:23:14 +0000 EdOfNoName 2141@http://bayanime.com/forums/ <p>Some of us from No-Name Anime are going to the 3:50pm showing on Sunday 5/23 of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya at New People in San Francisco. If you recognize us, say hello!</p> <p><a href="http://bayanime.com/us-premiere-movie-the-disappearance-of-haruhi-suzumiya/" rel="nofollow">http://bayanime.com/us-premiere-movie-the-disappearance-of-haruhi-suzumiya/</a> </p> http://bayanime.com/forums/topic/new-people-a-retailers-perspective#post-1601 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:35:07 +0000 Colin 1601@http://bayanime.com/forums/ <p>This Thursday I was out touring some bookstores in SF for work and popped by the New People building in Japantown. I wanted to share my impressions of it.</p> <p>First off, the space is quite nice. They've gone for a very modern, open, well lit feel. The "flow" of the building works well. As you go up the elevator, its nearly impossible to resit walking into each space. Everything thing feels more "New York" than San Francisco, but that isn't really a bad thing. I am really impressed with the aesthetics of the first two floors. </p> <p>The trouble with the space, as far as I can see, is they really don't have much to offer.</p> <p>The theater seems to only play anime and movies that are 2-3 years old and its not cheap. I think to make it a viable "destination" they would have to show current titles and update the selection weekly. A membership or "frequent viewer" program would be a huge home run with Japanophiles and would probably be enough of a draw to keep bodies moving into the compound.</p> <p>The cafe on the first floor seems to be severely limited. I can't see why anyone would dine there instead of any other of Japantown's offerings. Again, they need to make it a "destination" and I think this could be easily done by creating a "manga cafe" especially with Manga Cafe Mika folding. Offering free, or free for a limited time, access to the manga selection would pull people in and hopefully you could make up some $$$ with food and drink sales. I would take a page from Borders or Barnes and Noble here and accept that the cafe is really going to run at a loss but it provides a very important cornerstone for the building by allowing people to comfortably hang out or meet up inside. Live music here would be a no-brainer here as well and I'd be shocked if its not been discussed...</p> <p>The retail space seems like the biggest strike out. They have an extremely limited selection of products which seem to be aimmed at arty hipsters. One would be better served by popping over to Super 7 where similar, but better, goodies can be found and at more reasonable prices. Who is the customer that this space is intended for? I spotted a small selection of art books and "After the Quake" (presumably to tie-in with the Super Frog gallery upstairs), a humidifier that seemed more like it was for dropping your weed in, so over priced and over sized figurines, and plenty of things that couldn't really be given as gifts and yet aren't the types of things that one would really buy for their self. I can't see this shop ever becoming profitable let alone recouping its build out costs. The staff to shopper ratio was like 3 to 1 in favor of the staff! Ouch.</p> <p>The gothic lolita store, or whatever one calls it, is strange to say the least. I understand there are some out there who love these outfits, but really, are there enough people in the area who can afford to pay $300+ for their offerings? This is niche which is REALLY at the short end of the tail. Consumers who are interested in these sorts of things would probably be better served by an online shop so prices can be kept down and volume made up. Again, I can't see this being profitable.</p> <p>The Super Frog gallery, while I love the obscure Murakamki reference, seemed bare and lacking in any real pizazz. Instead of a space which complimented the works on the walls, the overwhelming whiteness and lack of furniture seemed to detract from the art. There was also a distinct lack of selection. Music here wouldn't hurt, either. As an event space, you would have to pack a lot of bodies in the room to make it feel like something was really "happening."</p> <p>Knowing how retail in SF works, especially when minority "cultural" shops enter into the equation, I can see that New People sort of got hit coming in the door and going out. On one hand, I am sure the city loves have a "cultural center" as they are hugely in love with such things. Whether or not New People really counts as anything beyond Japanophile-hipster culture is debatable, but I think most would agree that French maid outfits and giant, plastic, Legomen-ish statues aren't really accurately representing modern Japan culture. The real pickle that New People are in is that I am sure they cannot overlap with the mall across the street. For all its flaws, many of the shops in mall have sort of "cracked the code" as best as anyone could, for now, when it comes to retailing Japanese themed goods. Obviously, toys are a huge money maker for the shops. You just have to look around the mall to see that all the shops are fighting to get them in. Many have the same selection now even. Antiques still sell to upper-class San Franciscans. Ramen is good. Books, manga, some dvds, etc. But New People can't stock these items except in the very limited selections which are more than likely stipulated. Its the same with the movie theater: if their theater was too big with too new of movies, its going to cut into the Kabuki...erm SUNDANCE across the way.</p> <p>It will be interesting to watch and see how much New People evolves. From a retail manager's perspective, I see lots of red flags and would venture a guess and say that they will need to make some dramatic changes if they are to remain for longer than five years... unless they have some sort of massive grant or private funding. </p> http://bayanime.com/forums/topic/bayanime-meetup-new-people-grand-opening#post-1323 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:32:08 +0000 Ann 1323@http://bayanime.com/forums/ <p>Hey everyone! Our next meetup will be on August 15th for the New People grand opening! Meet up at 11am at the Japan Peace Plaza pagoda. If you're coming later, <a href="http://bayanime.com/contact/" rel="nofollow">send me a message</a> or <a href="http://bayanime.com/forums/message.php?user=1" rel="nofollow">PM me</a> for my number.</p> <p>Event details here:<br /> <a href="http://bayanime.com/new-people-grand-opening-and-j-pop-summit-festival-sf-japantown-15-aug-09/" rel="nofollow">http://bayanime.com/new-people-grand-opening-and-j-pop-summit-festival-sf-japantown-15-aug-09/</a></p> <p>So the plan will be to hang out, check out stuffs, listen to the bands, and get lunch/snack foods. The festivities start at 11am and it looks like there will be live music for most of the afternoon. Viz Cinema is also premiering 20th Century Boys at 5pm; I've already seen it but I imagine some members might want to go watch it together.</p> <p>So who's in? RSVP on Facebook if you have an account there:<br /> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119961442848" rel="nofollow">http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119961442848</a> </p>