Posted on 03/05/2019 8:28:53 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
The last remaining fortune cookie factory in San Francisco is on the verge of closure, thanks to sky-high rents and new technology, but its owner says he will never give up the family business, writes Lucy Sherriff.
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, in the city's Chinatown, is the last factory of its kind in the area, after competitors were forced to close when overheads became too expensive.
The family-run factory opened its doors on Ross Alley in 1962, and uses the same recipe to this day, as well as retaining the traditional machinery used to make Chinese fortune cookies.
"Even I don't know the recipe," co-owner Kevin Chan, whose mother and uncle founded the store, told the BBC. "It's my mum's secret." Chan, who stays up until 3am at night writing the fortunes which are inserted into the cookies, says he's proud the store remains open, but he's facing an uncertain future.
"My rent is $6,000 a month. Three years ago, it was $1,400. But I'm not going to just walk away. I'm not going to give up. I will keep going for as long as I can."
Chan's mother still works at the factory, along with three part-time employees. The store used to sell to restaurants and hotels but it couldn't compete with the bigger factories elsewhere in the US. Chan would charge $14 for a case containing 400 cookies.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
It's a real hole in the wall...I can't believe the rent is $6,000 per month now.




Rent has probably skyrocketed to get the business out so it can be sold to a developer - for condos, etc.
Used to get broken fortune cookies there by the bag...cheap.
That’s totally up my alley.
That rent is ridiculous. Hopefully they figure something out and keep a good thing going.
I know a subtle sell for bringing back rent control when I see one.
A neighbor was transferred to the west coast.
His plan was to first find a house to rent or buy.
Returning the next day to one they liked to find the rent up by $500.00 !!!
They took it.
I ask if it had an ocean view?
He said the Unibomber shack with a view starts at a couple of million.
He also said his yard was so small, the grass could be trimmed with scissors.
Also in today’s news about San Fransicko and its rents, changes...
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-leather-sf-20190304-htmlstory.html
San Francisco Cookie Factory?
Just make sure those “chocolate” chips in those Chocolate Chip Cookies are really chocolate.
Being located close to human feces and discarded syringes costs big bucks!
[flash back] When I was a kid, Mom used to buy bags of cookie "seconds" from the Nabisco factory in Buena Park, CA. She'd get expensive cookies such as the chocolate covered wafers for cheap.
where will Bruce Leroy go now to get knowledge to fight the Shogun of Harlem?
They opened this dinky little place 57 years ago and are still paying rent? They could have bought their own place 3 times over. If he doesn’t know the recipe, he better find a new career because mama isn’t going to live forever.
Upgrading over the years would have saved those restaurant contracts. Nope, sorry, no sympathy for this failing business.
Fortune cookies dont have chocolate chips and anyway thats a great way to bring the discourse down to 6th grade levels.
I was shooting for Third Grade level discourse, but thanks for your input.
Not sure if they occupy the entire building or if there are other tenants.
In my CT home, my property tax actually exceeds my mortgage payment. Then I have landscaping, snowplowing, repairs and other fees on top of that. Crazy...and unsustainable. That's why I'm selling the property and moving to a condo.
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