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>> we are ready to begin. welcome to unico i'm albert and i'm very pleased that today we have a number of distinguished guests joining us from the

ribbon cutting ceremony, so allow me now a few moments to introduce our guests first of all please welcome san francisco mayor mr. edwin lee. [ applause ] >> >> next please welcome singer, song writer and unico cast member, quopola. [ applause ] >> we also would like to welcome the director of the san francisco zoo, miss tania peterson. >> and now, ladies and gentlemen, let's please welcome unico, ceo mr. tabashi yani. [ applause ] >> and last, but not least, please welcome unico usa chief

operating officer, mr. pani... [ applause ] >> at this time, i would like to ask unico ceo, mr. yani to give us a few opening remarks. >> mr. yani please. >> good morning, everyone. yeah, i am now so much excited because of for the opening soon and also i would like to express my personal experience 45 years ago i was 18 years. i passed 15 this usa, in san francisco, is my past experience to around here. and also, i much say, i am a

49er. [ cheers ] >> because i was born 49 year, and also, for each century, do you know, today, today is a day, you know, today is steve jobs passed away, one year ago. i give steve jobs so much and this is a place of innovation, i try to make innovation here for us today. thank you very much for listening. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, very much. >> may i now ask mayor lee for a response, please? >> thank you. and mr. yuni thank you and

welcome to san francisco, welcome unico for to the square it is a great place to be, this 30,000-square foot flag ship for the west coast and i have been wanting to tell you that i have known about your store to my daughter for quite some time, who have been religiously shopping for their affordable and very well-designed clothing for quite some time, and of course, i'm very intrigued being the next model to follow joe montana. but, i'm happy to be here and joined with, of course, tania peterson our zoo director and so many friends. i also had to wake up to my wife saying, we are going to the store today, are we not? so she is there already, we are already focused on the orange section of the store to get ready for this weekend.

but i want to not only congratulate unico for locating here in our very exciting part of our city, the international part where so many millions of visitors come every year. in fact, last year in 2011, over 16.3 million visitors came to san francisco and most of them found their way to unit square to the best shopping in the world. this is the center for arts and culture and of course it is our innovation capitol of the world and we are doing all of the right things to continue our success in the city. part of that success, is to work with great corporate citizens like unico and their efforts to make sure that they give their best effort to hire san franciscoans. today we celebrate not just a flag ship store but a store that has made corporate responsibility at the helm of

their friend. there is over 500 people that they have already hired in this store. that is a fabulous contribution. they have worked that magic with our office of economic development, having spent weeks to train people who may not have gotten this opportunity. but for their out reach in this store, and then, they created a buzz and excitement in our city. i know that people will not only appreciate the fabulous fashions here, that you just look at these prices, for the kind of quality that they have. and i know that we have smart shoppers like supervisor kim who will be here in a minute and others who look for that casmere brand and also are very affected by the price sensitivity of the quality store. and then i want to just give a shout out. there are people so excited here in san francisco for this

store to open. paul english from the richmond area of san francisco was here at 5:00 a.m. and i have to give a shout out to her. she and her friend michelle were the first two people in line here. i want to welcome you to the flag ship store in san francisco. congratulations mr. yuni and kenny, thank you for your wonderful work in setting this up and working with us so well. >> thank you, very much. yeah, you are very, very good serviceman, and the whole san francisco. thank you. thank you very much. >> and i think that we are, yes? >> by the way, when you get in there, you have got to see the magic mirror, that is something that is going to blend technology with your fashion. mr. yuni on behalf of the city in a way in which we are so

proud, so thankful for this opportunity to welcome the flag ship here, we would like to declare this unico day here in san francisco. [ applause ] >> thank you, very much. mayor lee and thank you very much everyone. i think that we are ready now to spread the unico ribbon for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, yes? if we could have, here we go, just underneath, yes, please. yes, i think that everyone has, yes, thank you very much. so, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to do it on the count of three. we will go, 3, 2, 1 for our guests and for our executives, obviously we have a number of very interested photographers here so please give us your best unico smile possible. ladies and gentlemen, so if we

are ready, 3, 2, 1, all right? >> 3, 2, 1... [ cheers ] >> thank you very much, everyone. and i think that we will be opening in probably... >> yes? >> we will be opening very, very shortly. one moment please. >> here we are at the embarcadero. we are standing at one of

locations for the street artists. can you tell me about this particular location, the program? >> this location is very significant. this was the very first and only location granted by the board of supervisors for the street artist when the program began in 1972. how does a person become a street artist? there are two major tenants. you must make the work yourself and you must sell the work yourself. a street artist, the license, then submitting the work to a committee of artists. this committee actually watches them make the work in front of them so that we can verify that it is all their own work. >> what happened during the holiday to make this an exciting location?

>> this would be a magic time of year. you would probably see this place is jammed with street artists. as the no, there is a lottery held at 6 in the morning. that is how sought after the spaces are. you might get as many as 150 street artists to show up for 50 spaces. >> what other areas can a licensed street artist go to? >> they can go to the fisherman's wharf area. they can go in and around union square. we have space is now up in the castro, in fact. >> how many are there? >> we have about 420. >> are they here all year round? >> out of the 420, i know 150 to sell all year round. i mean like five-seven days a week. >> are they making their living

of of this? >> this is their sole source of income for many. >> how long have you been with this program. how much has it changed? >> i have been with the program since it began 37 and a half years ago but i have seen changes in the trend. fashion comes and goes. >> i think that you can still find plenty of titis perhaps. >> this is because the 60's is retro for a lot of people. i have seen that come back, yes. >> people still think of this city as the birth of that movement. great, thank you for talking about the background of the program. i'm excited to go shopping. >> i would like you to meet two

street artists. this is linda and jeremy. >> night said to me to print them -- nice to meet you. >> can you talk to me about a variety of products that use cell? >> we have these lovely constructed platters. we make these wonderful powder bowls. they can have a lot of color. >> york also using your license. -- you are also using your license. >> this means that i can register with the city. this makes sure that our family participated in making all of these. >> this comes by licensed

artists. the person selling it is the person that made it. there is nothing better than the people that made it. >> i would like you to meet michael johnson. he has been in the program for over 8 years. >> nice to me you. what inspired your photography? >> i am inspired everything that i see. the greatest thing about being a photographer is being able to show other people what i see. i have mostly worked in cuba and work that i shot here in san francisco. >> what is it about being a street artist that you particularly like? >> i liked it to the first day that i did it. i like talking to mentum people.

talking about art or anything that comes to our minds. there is more visibility than i would see in any store front. this would cost us relatively very little. >> i am so happy to meet you. i wish you all of the best. >> you are the wonderful artist that makes these color coding. >> nice to me to. >> i have been a street artist since 1976. >> how did you decide to be a street artist? >> i was working on union square. on lunch hours, i would be there visiting the artist. it was interesting, exciting, and i have a creative streak in me. it ranges from t-shirts,

jackets, hats. what is the day of the life of a street artist? >> they have their 2536 in the morning. by the end of the day, the last people to pack the vehicle probably get on their own at 7:30 at night. >> nice to me to condemn the -- nice to meet you. >> it was a pleasure to share this with you. i hope that the bay area will descend upon the plaza and go through these arts and crafts and by some holiday gifts. >> that would be amazing. thank you so much for the hard work that you do.