Erica Tanov Throws Shade at Fillmore for Turning Corporate

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Fillmore Street is changing. In the few years, stores like Rag & Bone, the Kooples, Sandro, and Aesop have moved into the neighborhood to join the likes of Le Labo, Heidi Says, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Benefit. But as these shops help boost the street's shopping profile, other store owners are leaving the high-market landscape all together. Erica Tanov closed her Fillmore Street outpost last year after six years in that location, and is currently on the hunt for an emerging SF neighborhood that better suits her brand.

"The profile of the street has changed since I opened, from an independent-store-owner-type neighborhood to a more corporate mix of multinational-type brands, which is a very different kind of shopper," Erica tells SFGate. "Unfortunately, when a handful of corporate brands open up shop, it then attracts other corporate brands and then snowballs. A new kind of customer then follows—one that is attracted to well-known labels rather than specialized, local brands."

That's why Tanov pulled out of Fillmore Street while keeping stores in the Marin Country Mart and on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Looking at these locations, it's difficult to argue that the chain store shopper wouldn't be an Erica Tanov one—at least, in regards to income bracket. Then again, perhaps a brand name actually can trump everything else.

· Fillmore Street lures ultra-chic boutiques to San Francisco [SFGate]
· Erica Tanov's Home Is a Bohemian-Chic Dream Come True [Racked SF]