effect would be damaging to the city. 703.385 says many are more likely to circulate the and money by corporate retail. as the eighth largest in the nation, the pet food express corporate headquarters is located in san leandro. at our hearing, a pet food express was a virus that when they expand operations, they might want to consider doing so in san francisco. it appears they are expanding but not in san francisco.

they are completing work on a warehouse in oakland. next up is kathleen of the small business commission, which is one of the association's. thank you very much for your time in protecting the distinct and averse neighborhoods -- and diverse neighborhoods. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here to reconfirm the position of the small business commission, which has consistently regarded the applications as an unnecessary and endangering small businesses

we already know are suffering from our recession right now. i also wanted to point out that the owners chose to reapply nine months later and less than 1 mile from where they were denied the first time. that is because they want to go after the same shoppers. reagathe reason why the indepent pet stores are you need is because of the business structure. they rely on commodity items such as food to pay most of their bills, and an operation like pet food express has the ability to negotiate price. this allows them to a absorb large discounts offered to customers to lure away customers

from the existing neighborhood businesses. these businesses cannot compete with a chain store, especially one known for predatory pricing. we want to see are vacant storefronts filled with businesses, but destroying a category of small businesses is not the way to do that. i am looking into reusing the large formula chain spaces as sites for our light manufacturing products that are really doing well in this town. these would provide space for manufacturing and a retail store. one only has to look at a successful local business to see the commercial appeal of such uses, so let's be creative.

we are not a suburb filled with generics, and that is why people live, work, and visit san francisco. please support the appeal of these small businesses today. >> any questions to the appellants? i will ask if there are members of the public who wish to speak and support the appellant. each member will have up to two minutes to speak. i only have one speaker card, so if i could ask her to go first, but anybody else who wishes to speak on behalf of pre appellant, please line up. -- on behalf of the appellant, please line up. is she here?

please step up to the microphone. if you could please use the microphone. >> i believe i should be speaking after the second group. >> are you speaking on behalf or against the of p.o.? >> against. -- against the appeal? >> against. >> you will have an opportunity in a little bit. >> i am speaking on behalf of the appellant. i would like to make one point. the food express was requesting to be located in an underserved neighborhoods, and we are not convinced they didn' the busines surge. of>> good afternoon.

we have one store located in district 6. ha hthey have a conditional use permit. in the findings of the executive summary, they downplayed the community's support.

they stated that the department received a phone call from bob be white, who said he had signatures. he is the owner of a boutique that store. additional letters from associations requesting the denial of the conditional use permit and letters were attached. hawkthey were contesting the opg

of pet food supplies rigid pose food express. i would like to mention -- the opening of pet food express. i would like to mention we have customers much more comfortable driving to their neighborhood shop. >> i can say that low prices on pet food have adjusted our business so severely we are not

even selling pet food. one quick example of how we cannot compete, i have a receipt for high quality pet food. it results in a price of 50 cents per box. our wholesale price is 45 -- $54, which is $3. we would make 75 cents. we cannot compete with that. there are other examples where we could not sell a certain bakery chief -- bakery tree. one last thing is they do not

compete with other pet cos. this show lower quality of food that competes with supermarkets. the food express sells high- quality pet food. they directly affect the business washington is trying to support and that is vital to the community. san francisco does not need more chains. >> next speaker. >> i am speaking on behalf of the san francisco green party puree good part of the reason we -- on behalf of san francisco.

the bigger they get, the more will leave the neighborhood and not circulate. the other one touches on what the last speaker just said, which is predatory pricing. let me read something to you i got just about an hour ago. it is something we criticized last year, and it is still on the website. "are low price guarantee. pet food express will be a competitor's price on any product we sell. if a competitor's price is $10 or less, which will be the price for a 10%."

it gives some details of a particular purchase. we consider any retail store in the bay area to be our competition. what small business could possibly stand up to a chain as large as pet food express with the power it has to keep its prices low when it has a statement encouraging people to come and. >> i live a few blocks away from here. it is not too often some of these come by that involves close friends of yours. people are struggling the same

problems you are. isn't that what this is about? keeping a vibrant, integrated san francisco? >> next speaker. >> good afternoon. when pet food express opened on market street, i saw a 5% increase in my business. the food express and texaco keep opening stores -- pet co keep opening stores. i am in opposition of them open in.

no doubt the independent pharmacists heard the words. what are you worried about? it changes the landscape. who cares? not only does the city looked different common -- does it look different, but the money is disappearing into the coffers of big business. i employ you do get the studies -- to look at a study. they have come to the conclusion that chain stores have a negative impact on local economies. a gooa slight shift diverting jt 10% of purchases from a large

chain stores to locally owned businesses create 1300 new jobs and nearly 200 million in income mental activity. the reverse is also true during get a 10% -- the reverse is also true. 10% shift would have a negative impact. >> next speaker. >> thank you for your time. ghraib last time i spoke, -- >> last time i spoke, i said it would drive other chain stores to follow suit. this is how slippery the slope

can give if you allow it. -- can get if you allow it. we would not object to pet food express coming into neighborhoods. the independents were never designed to compete with a chain. they will open up one independent store to serve one neighborhood. that is because pet food express is devour in the hard work with limited resources during your the -- with limited resources.

when pet food express opens a new store, they immediately offer discounts. quoting the magazine article, they can service 100 new stores. there is no way we can compete with this spirited >> next speaker. -- we can compete with this. >> next speaker. >> i am the sales manager. our first store is two blocks away from pet food express on market. when they open, we were forced to close our doors.

we're asking that you resend the permit for the proposed location and prevent further encroachment on our neighborhoods. thank you for your time. >> ♪ pussycat, pussycat, i love year oou ♪ ♪ yes, i do ♪ you and your pussycat bia eye♪ ♪ you and your pussycat timeheas doris -- pussycat pet stores ♪

>> i would like to emphasize this will have a negative impact on my everyday business. i think people see it as a high and 30 -- high end boutique, but the meat of my business is pet supplies. i cannot lose a fraction of my business. i am a single mother raising my son. i pay rent and taxes. my financial needs are high. in this economy, none of us can afford to lose our jobs. >> next speaker.

>> ion a store located in the marina, and i am here to represent district 2. first of all, he does have a good voice. we are not multimillionaire's. we do not have high-paid lobbyists. i appreciate when the supervisors listen. we also do not have a communications director on full- time express. we are small, hard working businesses. we really are, and my speech is

to talk about how benevolent we are as small business owners. there are a couple of supervisors i hope will listen to how challenging it is to be able to compete with not only this chain store but also the perspective of the other big chain stores potentially coming. i feel it is appropriate to give a few examples as to how benevolent. of the gives thousands of dollars to the organization and rigid bobb -- bobby give thousands of dollars to the organization paws, and they have taken donations from pet food express fear reagan -- pet food express.

>> thank you very much. next speaker please. >> i have listened to the controversy, and i see how the conflict of interest with the small organizations feel like they would bay ltd. from competing. perhaps you can get together under one umbrella and possibly the same title name, or you can work together to keep all of your jobs and survive under this corporate takeover so all of you

can work together. think of that. >> are there any other members of the public who wish to speak on behalf? >> they needed a conditional use from the planning commission. this section also outlines the criteria the planning commission

must use. the commission has to use -- look at the additional proposals, the availability of similar uses, the compatibility with the architectural character of the aerator, -- of the area and the existing use of neighborhood. the commission found that all of

the criteria were met. the department uses a quarter mile radius. we do not go any further. that is a benchmark established for a variety of other uses. we look at a quarter mile radius when we look at concentrations. in an edition, because the district is extremely small, it consists of -- in addition, because the district is m-- small it consists of a number of different districts. on california street, there is a generic commercial district. our staff looked at those

districts when we calculated what was in the immediate neighborhood. we found there are no retail pet stores in the quarter mile. westbound california street, there are a few stores that do have some pet food materials. they are largely drug stores and not focused on pet food material. the existing store front has been vacant and is a large spots suited for this business. -- large pet stores suited for this business. pet food express will fit in with the surrounding area. the commission found that food express is desirable for the neighborhood. it will require a little physical observations, provide

on-site parking encourage and services not found in the area. i am available for questions. >> thank you very much. i wonder if you could comment on an issue we kept hearing from members of the community about, and that is the issue of the impact it would have on small pet stores within the vicinity, and there was an interesting statement made with respect to issue six, where your response, and i think it is on page 6 -- you indicated there are no other comparable pet food or supply stores, and you determine the

proposed use would not have an unfair advantage, because they would not be in direct competition with them. i wonder if you could elaborate on that, because the store would be in direct competition with other businesses within the city, so i am wondering what you base this statement on. >> the department said there would be no direct competition in the immediate neighborhood. there may be some competition through the city, but the department cannot evaluate that on a citywide basis. >> i can repeat it again.

you say there were no other comparable supply stores and that the produce would not have an unfair advantage over the rest of the city, because they would not be in direct competition with them, so i wonder what you base this statement on, because making that statement about the rest of the city is a pretty broad statement. >> i believe that should have ended with will not be in direct competition with the immediate vicinity. the department did not evaluate the issues. i am saying it should have an adjacent plaza at the endo