Five Years of Union Street: How a First Store Opening Became a Leadership Journey
What We Built
Today, Union Street sits proudly as our busiest store of the four. On any given day, you can find the aisles and parklet bustling with families, neighbors catching up, locals on their lunch breaks. It really is the dream we all had, come to life.
The passion, humor, and hard work of all the team members past and present who collaborated, kept learning, and figured it out together show up in every inch of the store. When I walk through those doors, I feel enormous gratitude for everyone who believed in this vision. For the team who showed up day after day. For the neighbors who welcomed us into Cow Hollow with open arms. For Luke, who saw something in me I hadn't yet seen in myself.
How We Got Here
The journey to opening a store in Cow Hollow began years before we unlocked the doors at 2190 Union Street in November 2020. Starting in late 2017, we looked at three other possible retail spaces. We brainstormed backyard pizza ovens, strategized over refrigeration challenges, and even looked into elevator installations. All of that is to say: we really wanted to be in Cow Hollow.
We eventually found The One at 2190 Union Street in late 2019 and signed a lease in early February 2020. Yes, you read that correctly. We signed on to open our second location right before a global pandemic hit.
A New Role, A Shared Vision
You might think I led all this planning and scheming and dreaming on Union Street. But my main priority in November 2019 was our ecommerce business and pulling off another successful Thanksgiving. So when Luke asked me to step into a new role as COO after we signed the lease, I was caught completely off guard.
Had Luke lost his mind? He wanted me in charge? I remember taking a long, brisk (and perhaps slightly panicked) walk through Cole Valley, trying to process this offer and what the future would look like.
Not to spoil the dramatic reveal, but obviously I accepted and have remained in it ever since, learning and growing and taking plenty of walks around our neighborhoods. In reflecting back on February 2020, I've realized just how much history our Union Street store and I share.
Learning to Scale
Union Street was our second store ever. They say that going from one to two locations is the hardest leap a business will ever make. We needed to replicate everything we'd built from scratch at Cole Street and translate it to an entirely new location. At the same time, everything I'd learned in my five years at Luke's would need to serve as the foundation for leading the team through this leap.
I won't lie to you and say the transition was perfect or that we learned quickly from our mistakes. It was incredibly messy. The learning curves for grocery and leadership are both steep, and I was climbing both simultaneously.
But I wasn't alone, and I am grateful for that every single day. We all worked towards the same vision, creating something on Union Street specifically for Cow Hollow. We knew this neighborhood needed a grocery store and a community hub. A place neighbors could gather. A grocer they could rely on for delicious, high-quality prepared foods. That shared dream, which began back in 2017, kept us together through the 16-hour days, the rollercoaster of hiring during a pandemic, and the ongoing chaos of brick-and-mortar retail.
Figuring It Out Together
I've always said that we may not have it all 100% figured out at Luke's, but we always remain open to learning, and commit to figuring it out together. As I think about the past five years in Cow Hollow, that sentiment rings truer than ever.
We were making our first attempt to scale something beloved. Of course we had to figure it out together. I was making my first attempt to lead a team across multiple locations in an industry I knew very little about. Of course I had to stay open to learning from those around me. The joy came from the collaboration. The community we built carried us through.
Union Street taught me that leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about creating space for people to bring their best, fostering joy even in the chaos, and building community one interaction at a time.
The Joy of Community
That panicked walk I took through Cole Valley five years ago to process Luke's offer has transformed into something I never could have imagined. Today, the camaraderie, perseverance, and passion that have been part of the Union Street team since day one are even stronger. And every day, we all get to watch our whole community come together through our doors.
The morning coffee runs, the midday parklet gatherings, the evening grocery bustle. The joy of watching a community connecting and building something meaningful, one step at a time.
So happy birthday, Union Street. You're all grown up now, and we couldn't be prouder.
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