Behind Our New Bus Ads: How We Work with Local Businesses

Bringing small business owners together

The campaign was created in collaboration with the Geary Small Business Working Group. We formed this group of nine corridor merchants during the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project’s Quick-Build phase. The goal: support businesses as they adjusted to the new transit lanes, bus stop changes and safety improvements that were installed in the fall of 2023.

The Geary Small Business Working Group has met five times since November 2023 and stayed in regular email contact between meetings.  The merchants helped us direct the resources we set aside for the project toward a bus ad campaign and installing decorative lighting. We currently are continuing to work through the details of the decorative lighting project in collaboration with the merchants.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to be kept abreast of what was planned and happening with the project,” said Dita Blackwell, owner of Blackwell’s Wine and Spirits on the corridor. “Being able to shape some of the side projects was a fun bonus.”

The Geary Small Business Working Group gave merchants who otherwise might not have met the opportunity to get together regularly. “It was good for me to hear from other business owners,” Blackwell said.

“I think participating in the group added legitimacy to my business and helped me start relationships with other merchants in the corridor,” said Cassandra Palo, who owns and operates NICE Pilates Studio. “I wanted to participate and have my opinion heard.” 

The importance of merchants’ voices 

Kick-off meeting of the Geary Small Business Working Group on November 29, 2023.

It’s important to us to hear these voices and form an ongoing relationship. We will work with our partner agency, the SF Public Utilities Commission, to build on this partnership. Together, we will continue to support Geary businesses as the project moves into the construction phase. SFPUC’s water and sewer upgrade work will begin later this year, and our construction of transit and safety improvements is scheduled in 2027.

“At the end of the day, nobody wants to see their neighborhood torn up; it will be uncomfortable,” Blackwell noted. “However, I’ve been really happy with the communications from the SFMTA and the extra marketing efforts made available.”

“It really made the best of an awkward construction period,” she added, referring to the Quick-Build work we completed on Geary. “I’m grateful for the responsiveness of the SFMTA, by the clear communication and for the group.”

“Merchants and small business owners know best what they need to thrive,” said Liz Brisson, our project manager for this effort. "I’m so thankful to the working group for giving us the vision for this campaign to promote the wide range of businesses in the Richmond.”

The input from the group also allowed us to fine tune project details after implementation. “I needed a drop-off point in front of my studio,” said Marian Roth-Cramer, the owner of Ms. Marian’s Dance Garden on Geary. So we changed the hours of the General Loading Zone outside her dance studio. Now, the timing aligns better with class drop-offs and pick-ups.

“I really appreciate the people who are working on this project,” Roth-Cramer said. “They really do take on people’s concerns and represent the community.”

To support the merchants’ campaign plan, we donated ad space for 1,000 interior bus cards. We also provided ads on the exteriors of buses. One ad features restaurants, another highlights shopping and the third focuses on services.  

The new bus ads feature small businesses and their customers on the corridor.

The ads include photos of Central Richmond businesses as well as hand-drawn illustrations. They also promote the city’s Shop Dine SFRichmond website.  It features the corridor’s shops, restaurants and available services.

The 24 businesses that were photographed also received digital copies of their photos to use for their own future marketing purposes.  

Richmond District business owner Cassandra Palo created the tagline for the ads: Everything You Need.

‘Everything You Need’

TimeOut magazine recently named the Richmond one of the world’s coolest neighborhoods. Palo, the Pilates studio owner, agrees, and she came up with the ad’s tagline: “Central Richmond: Everything You Need.”

“I was prompted to think of what unique thing the Richmond has to offer,” she said. “You can go months without needing to go east of Arguello … you can come to the Richmond, have brunch and get all your errands done at a suburban pace with minimal driving or stress.”

Roth-Cramer was happy some of the children who practice at her studio can now see themselves on buses across the city: “I was thrilled to see two panels for us on the bus ads! I like how things are going.”