Does SF Need a Law to Save Legacy Small Businesses?

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Marcus Books needs a new home. Clothes Contact will leave its space on Valencia after 28 years. Flax Art & Design must vacate its home on Market Street to make way for condos. Lombardi Sports is closing after 66 years in business. San Francisco's retail landscape is changing, and Supervisor David Campos is working with San Francisco Heritage on legislation to slow those changes.

SFGate reports that Campos wants to establish a registry of legacy businesses— restaurants, retailers and manufacturers that have been around at least 30 years and have "contributed to their neighborhoods in a meaningful way." The program, which he says would be the first in the U.S., would incentivize property owners to keep legacy stores as tenants. For now, it's just an idea, but we could see the proposal resonating with nostalgic San Franciscans.
· S.F. Development Boom Swallows Up Historic Family Businesses [SFGate]
· Lombardi Sports is Closing to Make Room for More Condos [Racked]