A decade ago, Sarah Garand was working downtown at a nonprofit organization and wanted an after-work hangout to unwind, one that served good wine, beer, and snacks and didn’t bankrupt her and her colleagues.
Nothing fit the bill, so Garand raised money from coworkers and started a weekly happy hour at the office. It soon grew, and even friends of friends were attending. The popularity inspired her to leave her office job and try to open a bar with the same happy-hour spirit.
After finding a spot a bit farther from the downtown core than she first hoped, Garand cofounded Wine Down in 2016, a casual South of Market place on Folsom Street across from the Moscone Center. (Garand’s co-founder Jaime Hiraishi left the business at the end of June.)
She says it was soon a big hit with the after-work crowd: “We were busy Monday through Friday.”
Then came the pandemic lockdown, and Wine Down had to close for a year and a half. When it reopened, “no one came back,” says Garand.
Now the city is trying to revive downtown with events such as Downtown First Thursdays (DFT) and entertainment zones, where bars and restaurants at certain times can sell alcohol to go. These zones have more than tripled over the last year, thanks to a state law relaxing alcohol restrictions.
DFT takes place every month, but Wine Down is several blocks away and doesn’t get the foot traffic bump that other merchants report. What’s really helped has been the return of conferences and conventions to Moscone, but that return has come with a caveat: people are drinking less alcohol these days.
The Frisc spoke with Garand recently about the shifting habits of bar customers, the importance of third spaces, and the surprising ways you can get what you give.
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
The Frisc: The city is opening ways for bars and restaurants to sell more alcohol. At the same time, people are drinking less. How has this affected your business?
Sarah Garand: I really do believe that wine and beer, for a variety of reasons, are a good social thing. People have been drinking wine and beer for centuries, so it’s not ever going to go away, but we have expanded the non-alcoholic options on our menu. We don’t have a plan to shift our business model dramatically. We’re still a wine and beer bar that supports local businesses.
But you’ve added events to bring people in the door?
Even with the back-to-office orders, people aren’t working here as much. We’re trying to give people opportunities to interact with others. We started a monthly book club last year. We also have a monthly pop culture trivia night that does bring in more people who bring friends. We put quite a bit of effort into getting a good mix of questions regarding cultural events and issues for the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s — we rotate eras.
We donate part of our proceeds to a different nonprofit each month, and we’ve recently planned some crafting events to make items for the nonprofit.
On a related note, someone at the Yerba Buena Partnership mentioned that there were 30 or so women-owned businesses in the area. We came up with the idea of a women-owned business bingo where customers could get little extras for going to the businesses. Seventeen [of the businesses] agreed to participate, and we tried this out in March. It was pretty fun and a way to build more community in the area. I want to try it again next year in some form.
The city is expanding entertainment zones. Has this been an issue in terms of competition?
This year is trending to be [our] best since reopening in 2021, so I’m cautiously optimistic. More businesses in the area doing better is good for all of us. When more surrounding businesses are closed down, it gives people less of a reason to visit an area. Being near Moscone has been a saving grace.
What’s your busiest night of the week?
Pre-pandemic, there was a clear pattern of a slow buildup to Thursday and Friday. We knew how to stock for the week. Since reopening, there are no patterns anymore. Generally it is Thursday, but in another quarter Thursdays will be quiet.
That’s why we’ve tried to come up with other things like trivia on Tuesday or a book club on Mondays. We don’t open at all on Saturday and Sunday, it doesn’t make sense for us, but we do rent out the place on those nights for private events.
How has the current economy, tariffs included, affected your business?
Costs have gone up on everything from basic services like cable and refrigeration to wine and food — even before tariffs. We’ve had to raise prices like everyone has. The tariffs haven’t hit Wine Down directly — maybe some of our suppliers.
We’ve tried a wine club with monthly selections. Even before the pandemic, this was a very small part of the revenue pie. But now, we have people who’ve been members stop because they’re cutting down their personal expenses. We’re trying to see if this still makes sense.
You say Wine Down is a sustainable business. How does that play out in the bar?
We work with local wine and beer suppliers. We also serve both from taps. This means we use kegs to store and dispense the wine, which means less waste. We do have bottles for our wine club and for people to purchase to take home, but most of our offerings come from kegs.
What was the hardest part about starting up Wine Down?
There were lots of challenges. Finding a location — we wanted to be more in the heart of downtown but had to expand our search. Once we found this place, it took nine months to negotiate the lease, which was contingent upon our having a liquor license. We went to our supervisor back then, Jane Kim. An aide for her told us that the area around our location was oversubscribed for liquor licenses.
(Note: Until this year, liquor licenses were geographically limited to one per every 2,000 residents. A new state law has eased these restrictions.)
But the aide told us that if we could show community support, we could get one. So we reached out to neighboring businesses and business associations to ask for support — they did. No one objected. We presented [at] the Board of Supervisors, no one came to speak against it, and the supervisors voted to allow us to operate.
The core thing is creating a place that people go to regularly. We’ve hired warm, friendly people, and we serve a good product at reasonable prices — $12 to $13 for a glass of wine, with a $9 per glass happy hour. We’ve become sort of a Cheers bar because we have neighborhood regulars. Many come every night during the week. We’re a vital third space for people to see their friends.
We know these people by name. When I was pregnant last year, the regulars threw me a baby shower. They bought my whole registry for me. I didn’t expect it to be quite like this. It surprised me and makes me want to keep it going — even when it is hard.
