ReLove is more than just a place to buy clothes for many. The San Francisco resale boutique on Polk Street, which houses a narrow but mighty archive of vintage, designer and independent labels, is also where a brokenhearted regular rediscovered herself post-breakup, a now-married couple first met and a film stylist dresses his actors.
But before the business became a staple in the resale industry, with a two-story sequel opening in Oakland later this month, owner Delila Hailechristos had to first get past the dozens of “no’s” she encountered from prospective landlords and the banks from which she sought business loans.
“Every bank gave the same answer: ‘We rarely fund first-time business owners, but we wish you the best of luck,’” she said.
Hailechristos, who used her savings to open her business in 2014, isn’t the only Black entrepreneur to have received more best wishes than investor interest.
Aay Preston-Myint shops at ReLove in San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023.
Michaela Vatcheva, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle
At public policy research firm Mason Tillman Associates in Oakland, President Eleanor Ramsey gathers data on racial disparities in the financial support received by businesses. Ramsey said it was telling that Black entrepreneurs across the U.S. are 28% percent more likely to be denied a business loan than white men with the same credit scores.
After renting the same office space on Harrison Street for 14 years, Ramsey herself had trouble renewing her lease in 2019.
“I was only able to secure the lease after I went through a Realtor anonymously,” she said. “I can only conclude their unwillingness was due to the color of my skin.”
Dozens of landlords also rejected Hailechristos before she finally found a space.
“I know to a lot of those landlords I did not look like what they thought a typical business owner looks like,” she said. “And they could not see me as a worthwhile investment.”
ReLove owner Delila Hailechristos is preparing to open a two-story sequel to her successful San Francisco store in Oakland in February.
Salgu Wissmath / The Chronicle
Tiffany Carter is all too familiar with these experiences as a business owner from the Bayview neighborhood herself and the co-founder of San Francisco Black …….
