SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – Last Thursday we learned that the only Safeway grocery store in San Francisco's Western Addition is closing.

Community members and the NAACP are speaking out, saying that implementing this plan will have long-term negative impacts on the city's black community.

In less than two months, the Safeway grocery store on Webster Street will close, executives say.

“They're destroying it. They're just destroying the whole neighborhood,” said Theresa Frye, who lives in Western Addition and shops at Safeway.

RELATED TOPICS: New anti-theft gates installed at several SF Safeway locations

Community members are outraged, saying seniors and the disabled have been forgotten. Safeway officials say they have reached an agreement to sell the 3.68-acre site to a real estate company to build a mixed-use development project that would include residential and commercial space.

“They really need to do something to take away the things we need from downtown and then create housing. Housing for who? For the homeless? They need to make a bigger effort,” said Norris Mays, who lives in the Western Addition.

“It is the destruction of a community!” said Dr. Amos Brown of the NAACP.

And those views from Brown are shared by those we spoke to in Western Addition, who believe this will have a direct impact on low-income black and Asian communities.

MORE: SF Safeway's classical music used to deter loitering was turned off after disturbing neighbors

Last week, Mayor London Breed told our partners at the SF Standard, “This is a real and rare opportunity to create a significant amount of new housing and even a new grocery store in this part of our city.”

However, plans for a new grocery store have not yet materialized, and community members we spoke to have targeted the mayor.

“And London isn't even fighting for the black community to keep this store here for black people. It seems like they're just driving all black people out!” said Lillie Briggs, who lives in the Western Addition.

JR STONE: “So you blame the mayor?” we asked.

LILLIE BRIGGS: “I blame London because I think London should have done more. She grew up in this area!”

MORE: Safeway 'Tap to Pay' charges Bay Area woman's credit card while it's still in her purse

Supervisor Dean Preston's office said it had contacted Safeway and the developer to “explore the possibility of establishing a grocery store as part of any proposed development on the site.”

“They need to stop, slow things down and allow the black community to come in and include us,” Brown said.

The closure of the Safeway store means customers will have to travel more than a mile to another Safeway or Lucky supermarket, or a little more than half a mile if and when a new Trader Joe's store opens in Hayes Valley.

MORE: 'Breaking point': Once 24-hour Safeway in Castro, San Francisco, cuts hours due to theft

We reached out to San Francisco Mayor London Breed's office on Sunday evening to see her response to some of the criticisms. We have not received a response from her office.

Safeway issued the following statement:

“Safeway recently entered into an agreement to sell 3.68 acres of land at Webster Plaza in San Francisco's Fillmore district to Align Real Estate. The company will develop a mixed-use development project there that will include residential and commercial space. As part of the sale, the Webster Safeway store is expected to close in early March.

Safeway has proudly served the Fillmore area for 40 years. All Webster Safeway employees will be relocated to another store in the San Francisco area, and we will continue to serve San Francisco from our remaining 15 locations.

The developer purchasing the Webster Plaza property is excited about this opportunity. San Francisco is struggling with a housing shortage and Safeway sees this as an opportunity to make a positive impact on the community and be part of a solution to bring much-needed additional housing to San Francisco.”

Supervisor Dean Preston made the following statement:

“We are extremely concerned about the potential loss of this grocery store in the heart of Fillmore, and particularly the possibility of losing it as early as March, which we find unacceptable. We welcome the development of this large surface parking lot with residential development, but this should not be an either/or situation.

We have reached out to Safeway and the developers to learn more about the plans, discuss the timeline and explore the possibility of incorporating a grocery store as part of a planned development at this site.”

If you use the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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Peter Gavette is a National Park Service archeologist working to trace the frontiers of a lost world in San Francisco.

He’s looking for concrete posts that marked the edges of the shifting sand dunes that covered nearly all of what is now the city’s Richmond and Sunset districts a century and a half ago. The markers were installed in 1873 to show the limits of the sand dunes that covered what the city called its “Outside Lands.” Though the sand is buried now under thousands of houses and businesses, the Outside Lands name lives on as a celebrated summertime music festival.

But back in 1873, it was another world. This part of San Francisco from the Ocean Beach to the western edge of Twin Peaks from the hill above the old Cliff House all the way south to Lake Merced was nothing but a sandy waste, marked here and there by scrub brush, small brackish lagoons and sand hills.

It was practically a wilderness. There were only a few houses — shacks, really — mostly inhabited by squatters. The sand covered nearly 6 square miles of San Francisco, a considerable hunk of the city. It was inhospitable much of the year. The dunes kept moving, driven by the wind, sometimes as much as a quarter of a mile over a few years.

So the federal government directed the U.S. Coast Survey to mark the edges of the sand in San Francisco as it existed in 1873. The surveyors used the finest instruments of the time to mark and install 20 monuments, each nearly 3-feet high to mark the edge of the sandy desert.

Gavette and other National Park Service scientists became interested in the survey markers and began to track them down.

“It’s part of our history,” Gavette said. The monuments also have scientific value. “They mark the edge of the coastal zone system,” he said. It also involves a bit of detective work, since over time nearly all of the monuments disappeared or were lost, buried under new roads or streets, covered over by plants, discarded, or even stolen.

The National Park Service is involved since many of the markers are in what is now the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Most are buried under the city like monuments of another age.

The first of the 20 markers installed in 1873 was set near Lake Merced, roughly where the Great Highway meets Skyline Boulevard. The others ran in a kind of semicircle, heading northwesterly, following the contours of the land.

They run up toward 19th Avenue in the Sunset district, dip across the middle of Golden Gate Park, head up east as far as the present Sixth Avenue, then follow the line of hills roughly on Anza or Balboa streets in a northwesterly direction to marker number 20 on Sutro Heights Park, on a bluff overlooking the ocean.

Marker number 20 intrigued Gavette. “It was the last one in the original location as far as we could tell,” he said. Gavette and some of his colleagues had searched for Marker 1 at Lake Merced, but it had apparently been paved over in a road-building project. The location of Marker 11 in the botanical garden in Golden Gate Park also appeared promising. “I looked for it,” he said, “but it’s apparently under grass or buried.” So it couldn’t be found.

That left No. 20. I met with Gavette and two of his park service colleagues, Zac Stanley and Craig Scott, at Sutro Heights the other morning to see the last of these monuments. It was just in time.

The marker was half buried in sandy soil on a bluff in a small forest of cypress trees overlooking the old Cliff House and the entrance to the Golden Gate. It’s just past two concrete lions that mark the entrance to Sutro Heights park where Point Lobos Avenue meets 48th Avenue, just above Lands End.

The monument is about 2½ feet long, made of a concrete-like material to resemble a milestone. It was chipped and worn. On the bottom, an inscription: USCS 1873 No 20.

It looked to Gavette like someone had moved the monument a bit, maybe to pry it out of the sand where it had remained for 150 years.

Vandals had tried to tear down two nearby statues — one of Diana the huntress, the other of a stag — not long ago, so the park had taken them down. The Park Service decided to remove Marker 20 to a safe place, construct an exact replica and install it with an interpretive panel to tell the story of the lost sand dunes.

So Gavette, Stanley and Scott pulled the monument upright, set up a temporary antenna, and took measurements to insure the exact location for a new historical marker. Then they picked up Marker 20 and put it in the back of a pickup truck to take it to a safe place. History is heavy: It took three people to move it.

As they worked, the three talked of the past: the time before history, when grizzly bears and tule elk roamed the area. There were humans too: the Yelamu people. Gavette pointed across a city street toward the ocean. “There was a human site there,” he said, “near a fresh water spring.”

But in 1873, when Marker 20 was installed, that bluff on the edge of the ocean looked much different. “There was nothing here, no trees, no forest. That came later,” Gavette said.

Yet not that far away, on the other side of the sand hills, the great city of San Francisco was rising. In 1875, only two years after the Coast Survey was completed, the Palace Hotel, the largest hotel in the United States, opened for business. Mining tycoon Adolph Sutro built a palatial residence and a public park near the survey monument and named the coastal bluff for himself. It was a boom time. The new city expanded westward, and now close to 100,000 people live in the neighborhoods just beyond the Coast Survey’s 1873 line in the sand. 

Carl Nolte’s columns appear in The Chronicle’s Sunday edition. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com

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Directors Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas and actors James Caan and Robert Duvall all spent several weeks in a western Nebraska. It was 1968, and while the movie got little attention at the time, it proved pivotal in the evolution of Hollywood.

Friday, August 18th 2023, 7:54 AM MDT

Updated: Sunday, August 20th 2023, 9:30 AM MDTBy Leo Adam Biga, Flatwater Free Press

Rex Peterson trick riding while on tour.

Provided by Stephen Mack via Flatwater Free Press

Four years before the release of “The Godfather,” a nearly unknown contingent consisting of director Francis Ford Coppola and actors Robert Duvall and James Caan rolled into a western Nebraska town. 

They weren’t alone. Future mega-director George Lucas, cinematographer Bill Butler and actress Shirley Knight joined them in Ogallala for the Coppola feature “The Rain People.” It was 1968, and though the resulting work received little attention at the time, it went on to play an outsized role in the evolution of Hollywood and cinema.

Three films, plus a TV miniseries, emerged from this Hollywood-Nebraska intersection, including a no-holds-barred documentary Duvall made about a rambunctious trick-riding rodeo family, the Petersons.

The film, “We’re Not the Jet Set,” premiered in New York City to good reviews but fell out of circulation due to subsequent rights issues. It paints an unvarnished family portrait, complete with coarse, politically incorrect language.

“It’s true to who we were,” said Kris Peterson Springer, who appears in the doc with her siblings, parents and paternal grandparents. “I’m in no way embarrassed or ashamed by it.”

K.C. Peterson, Kris’ brother, regards Duvall’s largely self-financed labor-of-love as a gift bestowed on the family, perhaps the ultimate home movie. 

The Petersons plan to organize a public screening of it at the Prairie Theatre in Ogallala during an upcoming family reunion. 

This incongruous melding of cowboy hospitality and high art originally happened by accident as the freewheeling production of “Rain People” wended its way from the East Coast to the South to the Midwest. The loose route left plenty of room for inspiration and discovery.

“We were on the road, God, for that whole picture. I had really no idea where we were going from day to day,” Caan said before his death in 2022.

The movie might never have ended up in Nebraska if a location scout traveling ahead didn’t happen upon Ogallala. After seeing it, Coppola decided that’s where the story would culminate. The last four weeks of shooting unfolded there. 

“Once there, we felt at home and there were many good places that suited our story,” said Coppola, 84. “The people were nice and … we were all happy there.”

The schedule paralleled the fictional road trip of its pregnant protagonist, Natalie (Knight). She flees suburban housewife life for the open road, traversing Long Island, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Nebraska to “find herself.” She gets involved with a brain-damaged ex-football player (Caan) and a motorcycle cop (Duvall). The maternal and romantic entanglement ends in tragedy.

Though arriving by chance, Duvall and Caan formed enduring friendships with the Petersons and another ranch family, the Haythorns. The experience also reinforced relationships among the film artists that led to alliances and projects pivotal to “New Hollywood.” 

Coppola was still finding his way as a filmmaker. 

Duvall, now 92, was a last minute replacement for Rip Torn. 

Getting the short notice gig proved fortuitous for Duvall’s career, said Knight. 

“That changed a lot of film history actually, if you think about it, because he started doing all that work with Francis.” 

“Rain People” provided Caan with the most challenging role of his career until playing Brian Piccolo in “Brian’s Song.” “I was like depressed through that whole picture, mostly because of this character I played.” 

Despite his discomfort, Caan said it was a great opportunity. 

“Just from talking to him (Coppola), I knew he knew actors. When we started working together I knew he was something special. The guy pretty much knew about everything.”

New USC film school grad Lucas came along for the ride to document the making of the movie. His short doc chronicling “Rain People” was released as “Filmmaker – A Diary by George Lucas.” 

“George’s film is excellent – he caught the spirit of this exciting trip,” said Coppola, “which for us was an adventure into filmmaking.” 

Duvall and Caan remembered the quiet, scrawny Lucas wielding a camera and sound system strapped to his chest to capture behind the scenes moments. 

Knight, who thought Lucas “was adorable,” took away an important lesson.

“Be nice to everybody … because that assistant could turn out to be George Lucas.”

Soon after wrapping in Ogallala, Coppola and Lucas formed American Zoetrope in San Francisco. “Rain People” was the production company’s first release. Under the Zoetrope banner Coppola produced the younger filmmaker’s first two features: “THX 1138” in 1971, starring Duvall, and “American Graffiti” in 1973.

In between the Lucas films, Coppola made “The Godfather,” then “Godfather II” and “The Conversation,” cementing his reputation as a contemporary American master.

While Coppola slogged through “Apocalypse Now,” Lucas parlayed the unexpected popularity of “American Graffiti” to turn his Saturday matinee fantasy “Star Wars” into Hollywood’s biggest franchise and the foundation of his LucasFilm-SkyWalker Ranch production and effects empire. 

“George Lucas was, and still is, like a younger brother to me. I knew early on he was a great talent, and though a different personality to my own, one that was very helpful and stimulating to me,” Coppola said. 

The emergence of Coppola and Lucas marked a new wave encroaching on the failing old studio system out of touch with counter-culture youth audiences. Though “Rain People” did little business and received lukewarm reviews, it served as a bridge project for those involved. 

Butler, the cinematographer, contributed to “The Godfather” and replaced Haskell Wexler on “The Conversation.” He went on to photograph “Jaws” for yet another film school “brat,” Steven Spielberg. 

“Rain People” led Coppola to cast Duvall in “The Godfather” films, “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now” and to cast Caan in the first “Godfather” and later in “Gardens of Stone.” 

“I liked working with them very much, and yes, they were on all the early lists of names for ‘The Godfather,’” Coppola said.

“George (Lucas) got to meet Bobby and knew he should be in ‘THX 1138,’” he added. 

The many crosscurrents resulting from “Rain People” were rare for an art film, said film scholar Thomas Schatz, emeritus chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of “Hollywood Genres.”

“The Rain People” was part of “a strain of offbeat off-Hollywood road movies” that served as “character studies of American nomads, inward journeys of discovery and aimless travelogues through the American outback,” said Schatz, an Omaha native.

The 1969 movie marked the start of Coppola banding together collaborators who would join him in “his later assault on mainstream Hollywood,” Schatz added.

It is now regarded as an important early work by Coppola, who counts it among the favorites of his own films. 

“It has value, I think, beyond being an early film of mine,” he said, “but as one of the first films to touch on the theme of ‘women’s liberation.’”

Knight, who was actually pregnant by the time shooting commenced, embraced Coppola’s freewheeling vision. 

“I think what was happening with women at that time was they were coming out of the ’50s as lovely housewives in aprons into an era when women were becoming doctors and lawyers, entering politics and becoming independent,” Knight said. “Natalie was caught up in that.”

All the movie people met locals, but Duvall and Caan got to know them personally. The actors encountered a scene straight out of the movies when they met the tough and colorful ranchers. 

Fade in on a 1968 summer day in Ogallala. The sleepy agricultural and former railroad hub had been largely bypassed by the nation’s social-political churn except for some of its boys going off to Vietnam. Cut to the arrival of a small caravan of cars, vans and trucks whose occupants marked them instantly as outsiders.

Word traveled fast about these long-haired strangers with lights, cameras, cables and big city ways. It wasn’t long before Duvall and Caan, both admirers of the West and horses, asked around where they could find some mounts. They were directed to the Peterson’s circle pen just outside of town. 

Duvall still remembers the day and their encounter with the family patriarch, B.A. Peterson. He invited them to come down and ride horses any time … just before asking – in colorful language and in the same breath – if they were having any luck in town. 

Duvall recognized a cinematic family when he saw one. 

“Oh, boy, a very unique family, a rodeo circus mentality. They were kind of an identity unto themselves even in that small community I think.” 

The actors came back to ride, rope and swap stories. Duvall and Caan moved into The Lazy K next to the Peterson spread. They bought cowboy boots and had one of the Peterson brood, K.C., polish them. K.C. said he and his family took an instant liking to the actors. The family made quite an impression on them. 

“There were some pretty rough and tumble people back then,” said Duvall. 

“Yeah, they were a wild group,” Caan confirmed. “They would fight in the middle of the living room, and, oh boy, I mean fist fight, and he’s (B.A.) sitting back in a chair saying, ‘Now, no hitting in the face’ Those were the rules.”

“We had good times together. You’d tell B.A. a joke and he’d laugh for five minutes. He had a great sense of humor, that guy,” recalled Duvall.

K.C. said his father “didn’t care what he said to anybody, he didn’t care who you were. He didn’t let us call him daddy, you called him B.A. The film brought everything out about him.” 

Duvall, cinematographer Joseph Friedman and sound man Stephen Mack, who also edited the film, captured the family in all their raucous reality – the politically incorrect language, rowdy behavior and all. 

“We let it come from them. It’s their life,” Duvall said.

K.C. said his father could read a person and he trusted Duvall, giving him unbridled access to family without fear of misrepresentation or exploitation. 

“Bobby wasn’t going to change it, he was just going to put it out there how it was,” said K.C. “You won’t see another film like it, it’s totally different.” 

Duvall said he wouldn’t call the film “a pure documentary because there were certain scenes we set up … but it’s what they do and so it comes out of pretty pure behavior.”

K.C. recalled Duvall at his family’s house “all the time.” He stayed in the motel next door and would bring his wife and step-daughters to the Peterson place.

“My mom would have them sit down for a meal. She’d just feed them all. Then the next thing you know Bobby would say, ‘Hey, we need to film this.’ Bobby and crew followed us everywhere. You never knew when they might turn on a camera. And that’s kind of how it went. ”

After sharing so many intimate scenes together, Duvall was like a family member. At his invitation, some Petersons even visited him on the “The Godfather” set. 

“Jet Set” film locales include the Peterson home near the South Platte River and open rangeland. Events depicted include a cattle branding, a wild west show, the Nebraskaland parade in downtown North Platte, a graduation and an amateur boxing match. Long-gone sites figure prominently in “The Rain People,” including the Lazy Skyline Drive-In and Reptile Ranch. A house fire in Brule also makes quite a scene.

North Platte Telegraph reporter Todd von Kampen, an Ogallala native, said the Coppola film “really does capture the Ogallala I knew from my childhood.”

For Duvall and Caan, western Nebraska’s influence didn’t end with “The Rain People” or “We’re Not the Jet Set.” 

Trail-drive tales told by Walt “Waldo” Haythorn, a fellow rancher and friend of B.A. Peterson, informed Duvall’s 2006 mini-series “Broken Trail.”  

“Being around those people, the real thing, that helped me when I went on to do things … especially my favorite part, Augustus McCrae in ‘Lonesome Dove’ and ‘Broken Trail,’” said Duvall, a National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Caan took up Denny Peterson on an offer to join him at the Haythorns for a herding and branding.

“Boy, that was some experience. It’s a great tradition actually. These guys come from all over, the neighboring ranchers, like the Petersons. And then all the wives, boy what a feast they put out. A spread for all the hands. By four o’clock … I was done, I was hurtin’ boy.” 

On the last day of the four-day branding, Caan was accorded the honor of roping. “You’re tied onto your saddle and rope these big old calves out of the herd and drag ’em by the pit. I was flanking ’em and spread-eagling for two or three days.”

Caan got so into working cowboy ways he began entering weekend roping events. “It was just in my blood,” he said. 

Eventually, studios banned him from competing due to injury risk. He credits his interest in ranching with forming the foundation for “Comes a Horseman,” a western he produced and starred in with Jane Fonda.

After “The Godfather” Caan and Duvall re-teamed on Sam Peckinpah’s “The Killer Elite” and remained best friends until Caan’s death. Caan felt their shared “blatant honesty” and ability to make each other laugh contributed to their strong on-screen chemistry.

Members of the Peterson clan leveraged their horsemanship into becoming in-demand Hollywood animal trainers and wranglers. 

K.C. worked on the Duvall film, “Geronimo: An American Legend.” Older brother Rex Peterson has a list of credits ranging from “The Black Stallion” to “The Horse Whisperer” to “Hidalgo” to “1883.”

“He’s the most like his dad I guess of the guys I know. … He ain’t got time for a lot of how ya’ doins and stuff,” Duvall said.

Peterson has helped make many A-list actors look proficient on horseback, including Viggo Mortensen, whom he worked with on “Hidalgo”. Peterson’s iconic Stetson hat and handlebar mustache are his trademark look, though he’s rarely “hunted” the camera to get on screen himself, even when Duvall shot “Jet Set.” 

He did, however, relent for a close-up in the 2021 miniseries “1883” and for a small part in the new Mortensen western “The Dead Don’t Hurt.”

And he’s the subject of an in-progress documentary project by Paul Brozen, “Hats, Horses and Hollywood – The Rex Peterson Story.”

Duvall is quick to note that he doesn’t deserve credit for the Petersons’ successful entry into Hollywood. “They totally got that on their own,” he said. But the legendary actor is glad the family still treasures the film he made about them.

“It’s very moving to hear that,” he said, “because you never know if they’re going to accept something real.”

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

The post Earlier than ‘The Godfather,’ a Coppola movie shot in western Nebraska performed a pivotal function in Hollywood’s evolution – PANHANDLE appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

At the same time other retailers decamp from San Francisco, Whole Foods Market plans to open a new location.

Acadia Realty Trust expects to help open a controversial location for the grocery chain in San Francisco’s Western Addition in two years.

The New York area-based real estate investment trust plans to lease space to the upscale market at its City Center shopping plaza at 2675 Geary Boulevard in Anza Vista, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a second-quarter earnings call.

Kenneth Bernstein, CEO at Acadia, said he expected the grocery store’s opening to be “a ’25 event.” 

The city’s Planning Commission is expected to approve the Whole Foods site as soon as this fall after an inquiry requested by the Board of Supervisors found the store’s impact on air quality would be “less than significant,” according to the newspaper.

The Whole Foods opening represents a bit of good news for the San Francisco retail industry, which has shrunk with the exit of a number of brand names. AT&T, Nordstrom, Old Navy, H&M and Crate & Barrel are among the retailers that have closed locations.

Store opponents had prevented its opening at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue for three years, citing environmental, noise and traffic concerns. Numerous unions also opposed the Whole Foods, saying its nonunion workforce would lead to lower-paying jobs. 

After the Planning Commission exempted the redevelopment of the former Sears store site from an environmental study, the Board of Supervisors voted in 2020 to require one anyway.

Other local residents complained the review process had hindered the neighborhood’s ability to draw jobs during the pandemic. 

The Whole Foods Market would add grocery options in a neighborhood next to the Richmond District near well-heeled Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights and Laurel Heights. For decades, the shopping center not far from Target and Trader Joe’s was home to the largest Sears in Northern California.

The Anza Vista store would be the seventh market for Whole Foods in San Francisco. 

In April, Austin-based Whole Foods Market pulled the plug on its largest grocery store in the city at 1177 Market Street. After 12 months, the grocery chain owned by Seattle-based Amazon.com closed the Mid-Market location, citing deteriorating street condition and safety concerns for its employees.

— Dana Bartholomew

Read more

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Expands presence in strategic markets and positions companies for further growth

OREM, Utah, January 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Any Hour Group (“Any Hour” or “the Company”), a leading provider of home services, today announced partnerships with seven companies – 3 Mountains Plumbing (“3 Mountains”), Connors Plumbing & Heating ( “Connors”), EJ Plumbing (“EJ”), Oak Island Heating & Air Conditioning (“oak island“), Pacific Aire (“Pacific Aire”), We Care Plumbing, Heating, & Air (“We Care”) and Wizard Plumbing (“Wizard”) to further expand its operations into new markets, including California, OregonAnd Minnesota. The financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

Established in 1961, Any Hour provides homeowners with peace of mind through a comprehensive range of quality HVAC, plumbing and electrical services. The company has achieved a market-leading position through rapid organic growth July 2021 Partnership with Knox Lane, a san francisco-based private equity firm to accelerate Any Hour journey.

Through the partnership with We Care, oak island and Pacific Aire, Any Hour have grown into large and growing companies Southern California market, incl San Diego, Santa Barbara, VenturaAnd Orange County. Any Hour is also expanding its presence in California through its partnerships with EJ and Wizard in Santa Clara And Saint Matthewor.

Additionally, Any Hour has officially established a presence in Germany through its partnership with 3 Mountains Oregonanother attractive West Coast market while adding a second Midwest partnership Waseca, Minnesota-based Connors. Any business will benefit from Any Hour’s extensive digital marketing, recruitment, training and operations capabilities while retaining their respective brand, headquarters and management team.

Wyatt Hepworth And Jeremy HansenAny Hour CEO and COO said: “Any Hour has experienced significant growth over the past 18 months as we continue to execute on our vision to build a differentiated, strategic platform for home delivery western United States. We are encouraged by the progress we have made and look forward to working with such a talented group of operators. Our team looks forward to establishing a strong presence in several important new geographies through these partnerships, which we look to continue to build on.”

Dustin van OrmanPresident of Business Development and M&A for Any Hour, added, “We are honored to partner with like-minded owners and operators who have built strong businesses through an unwavering commitment to their customers and employees. We look forward to providing additional support and resources to these operators so they can build on their respective momentum and serve more customers in these key markets.”

About each hour group
Founded in 1961, The Any Hour Group is the state’s leading home services company Utah, which provides residential customers with a full range of HVAC, plumbing and electrical services including repairs, replacements and maintenance. Any Hour has a long history of organic growth and employs more than 1,200 people and technicians. Any Hour’s unique culture, commitment to its employees and customers, and track record have positioned it for continued growth, with well over 300 million dollars in annual sales. Visit www.anyhourservices.com for more information. If you are interested in partnering with Any Hour Group, please contact Dustin van Orman at [email protected].

About Knox Lane
Headquartered in San Francisco, Knox Lane is a growth-oriented investment firm composed of a team of accomplished investors and operators with combined professional experience and a strong track record of working with leading companies to accelerate transformational growth. Knox Lane follows an investor-operator mindset and seeks to provide support across a range of business components including human capital, brand management, end-to-end digital transformation, procurement, supply chain and logistics, strategic acquisitions and business development. Visit www.knoxlane.com for more information.

Over 3 mountains plumbing
For over 22 years, 3 Mountains technicians have been ready to roll out their red carpet service to customers across the United States Portland, Oregon Area. 3 mountains led by Bill and Dani Kerrigan, is committed to providing quality plumbing services with exceptional results and superior customer service. The company gives back to its community through its work with ReFIT by providing free remodeling services to homes in need.

About Connors Plumbing & Heating
Connors is a long-time HVAC and plumbing contractor in Waseca, MNwhich has built a reputation for first class service in the greater area Minneapolis Area. Connors technicians are known throughout the region for their courtesy and trustworthiness. Founded in 1949 by Robert Connorsthe company is now run by his daughter, Peggy Hildebrandt.

About EJ Plumbing
EJ Plumbing was founded with the aim of supplying customers San Jose And Santa Clara with superior sanitary solutions. EJ is led by Emanuel Jimenez and has more than twenty years of experience. EJ’s friendly technicians pride themselves on a solid reputation they have worked hard to build with a proven commitment to customer service. Customers can rest assured that they can quickly find the quality plumbing services they need.

About Oak Island Heating & Air Conditioning
oak island was founded in 1998 and offers heating and cooling services Escondidoand the wider North San Diego Area. oak island partnered with We Care in 2020 and is led by Jacob Jung And Rusty Cochran.

About Pacific Aire
Pacific Aire was led by Markus Schneider since 1990 services in the field of heating, air conditioning and sanitation Santa Barbara, Ventura And The angel communities. Pacific Aire’s desire to provide outstanding customer service and superior workmanship has never wavered. Pacific Aire employees strive every day to create a professional and enjoyable customer experience, achieved through the company’s commitment to growth and education.

About We Care Plumbing, Heating & Air
We Care has been serving for over 20 years Southern California as the leading heating, air conditioning and sanitation company in the region. We Care continues to be the service team of choice for its customers because, to put it simply: “We Care To Go the Extra Mile”. We Care is located in Murrieta, California and passed Rusty Cochran.

About Wizard Plumbing
Wizard has a reputation built on honesty, integrity and exceptional customer service and serves the Saint Matthew, Saint Charles, Palo Alto, and wider Bay Area for over a decade. Led by Markus Evansthe Wizard team works every day to provide each and every client with the same quality work they would expect for their own families.

media contact
Woomi Yun / Eric Carlson
Joel FrankWilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449

SOURCE Knox Lane; The Any Hour group

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This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Western Pool & Spa Show, which has been held annually in Long Beach, California for 30 years. Last year, over 10,000 pool and spa industry professionals attended the Western Pool & Spa Show, making it one of the busiest national shows in the country.

The Western Pool & Spa Show celebrates 2 milestones

We recently had the chance to speak with Eric Nielson, Director of The Western Pool & Spa Show, on The Pool Magazine Podcast. He gave us an insight into the history behind the annual event.

“It started as a small table and has grown, and this will also be our 30th year in the city that has become our home, Long Beach. So there are two milestones that we’re kind of celebrating,” Nielson said.

“Years ago, there was a small group of manufacturers, sales reps, and a few pool guys who just got together and said, ‘Hey, maybe we should do something to educate people out there in the San Fernando Valley,'” Nielson said.

“They put together a small event in Studio City and it grew into something bigger. I think it was Ray Pak or one of the heater manufacturers who said, ‘Hey, could we maybe have one of our products on the hall?’ and that was the momentum of the exhibition space. So they started with that and then they brought in more things and it just grew and grew from there. From there it moved to the convention center in Pasadena and then we grew beyond that. Then there was a bit of time in Anaheim and now we’ve been in Long Beach for 30 years,” Nielson explained.

Check out the highlights from last year’s Western Pool & Spa Show

The Western Show has evolved and offers something for everyone

The Western Show, as it is known in the industry, has certainly evolved over the years from being traditionally known as the ‘Service Show’ to more involving the pool building side of the industry. With a wide range of educational opportunities and seminars available to participants, it also offers excellent value for participants.

The show, which runs March 23-35, is open for pool trading only. Registration is required and includes workshops on how to become a CPO, electrical and plumbing seminars, and workshops available in Spanish.

“We’re all volunteers and we’re focused on education,” said Nielson, “everything we do is geared towards being able to provide this quality education opportunity to the industry. This year we have many different courses that people can attend and use at a very reasonable price. For $115. You can come all three days and take one of the 90 different courses, including programs for Spanish speakers. You really can’t get that anywhere else.”

Educational workshops are held by Pentair, Hayward and Fluidra, as well as Watershape University, Pool Nation, Orenda Technologies, Taylor Technologies, PAL Lighting and many others. The lesson schedule and exhibition times for this event are as follows:

Thursday March 23, 2023

Education: 1:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m

Friday March 24, 2023

Education: 8:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

Friday March 24, 2023

Education: 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

The Western Pool & Spa Show is giving away prize draws every hour and there is a big giveaway at the end of the event. “We’ll be giving away $20,000 in cash,” Nielson said, “In total, we also gave away almost $60,000 in prizes last year. Second prize last year we had a pump, a heater, a filter, a whole set of equipment from Pentair. We have hourly draws. This year we are working with AquaCal Autopilot. They’re donating a heat pump worth about $9,000.”

Check out highlights from last year’s big giveaway event at the Western Pool & Spa Show

The Western Show is also a great opportunity to network with industry professionals, distributors and manufacturers and learn about the latest products and innovations. For those on the west coast, it remains one of the easiest shows to get to and offers some of the best offerings in terms of pool pro education opportunities.

Pool Magazine will definitely be in the house too, so be sure to stop by our booth (#216) and pick up the spring issue featuring Lucas Congdon, host of Insane Pools and owner of Lucas Lagoons.

Want to know more about the Western Pool & Spa Show? Listen to our conversation with Eric Nielson on the Pool Magazine podcast.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A powerful storm sweeping north through the Bering Strait on Saturday caused widespread flooding in several western Alaskan coastal communities, knocking out power and sending residents fleeing for higher ground.

The force of the water moved some homes off their foundations, and one house in Nome floated down a river until it got caught at a bridge.

The potent storm — what remains of Typhoon Merbok — has been influencing weather patterns as far away as California, where strong winds and a rare late-summer rainstorm were expected.

In Alaska, no injuries or deaths were immediately reported, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Officials had warned some places could see their worst flooding in 50 years and that the high waters could take up to 14 hours to recede.

gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration during the day.

The nearly 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) storm front has damaged roads and potentially other infrastructure, Dunleavy said at a Saturday evening news conference. Officials will evaluate any effects on water and sewer systems, seawalls, fuel storage areas, airports, and ports.

Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives were already in Alaska before the storm, and Dunleavy said they will stay to help assess damage.

“Our goal is to get the assessments done as soon as possible,” he said. “We’re going to move as quickly as we can to provide relief, provide recovery, provide the essentials that people need.”

Among the hardest hit communities was Golovin, a village of 170 or so residents who mostly sought shelter at a school or in three buildings on a hillside. Winds in the village gusted over 60 mph (95 kph) and the water rose 11 feet (3.3 meters) above the normal high tide line and was expected to rise another 2 feet (60 centimeters) Saturday before cresting.

“Most of the lower part of the community is all flooded with structures and buildings inundated,” said Ed Plumb, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

Clarabelle Lewis, the facility manager for the tribal government, the Chinik Eskimo Community, was among those who sought refuge on the hill overlooking Golovin. She and others were riding out the storm in the tribal office after securing items at their homes from the high winds and helping neighbors do the same.

“The winds were howling; it was noisy,” she said.

Most communities experienced wind gusts ranging from 41 mph (66 kph) to 67 mph (108 kph), but Cape Romanzof had peak winds of 91 mph (146 kph), the weather service said.

Lewis has never experienced a storm like this in 20 years living in Golovin.

“We’ve had flooding in the past a few times, but it was never this severe,” she said. “We’ve never had homes moved from their foundations.”

There were also reports of flooding in Hooper Bay, St. Michael’s, Unalakleet and Shaktoolik, where waves crashed over the berm in front of the community, Plumb said.

In Hooper Bay, more than 250 people took shelter inside the school, Bethel public radio station KYUK reported. The village is one of the largest along the coast with nearly 1,400 residents.

The school’s vice principal, Brittany Taraba, said three homes were knocked off their foundations and large parts of the village were flooded.

Residents are supporting each other, including donating recently caught and processed moose to feed those sheltering at the school.

“It’s really amazing to watch this community,” Taraba told KYUK.

Plumb said the storm would track through the Bering Strait on Saturday and then head into the Chukchi Sea.

“And then it’s going to kind of park and weaken just west of Point Hope,” he said of the community on Alaska’s northwest coast.

He said there would be high water in the vicinity of the northern Bering Sea through Saturday night before levels start to below through Sunday. Rising water levels farther north, in the Chukchi Sea and Kotzebue Sound areas, were expected into Sunday.

In Northern California, wind gusts up to 40 mph (64 kph) were forecast overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning along coastal areas from Sonoma County down to Santa Cruz and at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada, the weather service said.

Winds that strong can blow down branches and drought-stressed trees and cause power outages, said weather service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun.

Storms were expected to start Sunday morning and dump up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain in coastal areas of Sonoma County and a bit less as rains move southward to the San Francisco area and into the Santa Cruz mountains, Walbrun said.

“It’s a pretty significant rain for this early in the season,” he said, adding that the storms are forecast to continue on and off through at least Monday, making commutes to work wet with slick roads.

In the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of the state capital of Sacramento, fire crews have been fighting what has become the largest wildfire in that state so far this year. While rain is needed, the winds were a concern for crews battling the Mosquito Fire, which was 21% contained as of Saturday morning.

“The winds will definitely cause erratic fire behavior” that could ignite new hot spots despite the welcome moisture, said Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean. “The rain is not going to put out the fire but it will help.”

___

Gecker reported from San Francisco.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Expands Presence in Strategic Markets and Positions Company for Continued Growth

OREM, Utah, Jan 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Any Hour Group (“Any Hour” or “the Company”), a leading provider of home services, today announced partnerships with seven businesses – 3 Mountains Plumbing (“3 Mountains”), Connors Plumbing & Heating ( “Connors”), EJ Plumbing (“EJ”), Oak Island Heating & Air Conditioning (“Oak Island“), Pacific Aire (“Pacific Aire”), We Care Plumbing, Heating, & Air (“We Care”), and Wizard Plumbing (“Wizard”) – to further expand its operations into new markets, including California, Oregonand Minnesota. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

Founded in 1961, Any Hour offers homeowners peace of mind through a full suite of high-quality HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services. The Company has achieved a market-leading position through rapid organic growth, and in July 2021 partnered with Knox Lane, a san francisco-based private equity firm, to accelerate Any Hour’s trajectory.

By partnering with We Care, Oak Island and Pacific Aire, Any Hour has expanded into the large and growing Southern California market, including San Diego, Santa Barbara, Venturaand Orange County. Any Hour is also growing its presence in California through its partnerships with EJ and Wizard in Santa Clara other San Mateorespectively.

In addition, through its partnership with 3 Mountains, Any Hour has officially established a footprint in Oregonanother attractive west coast market, while adding a second Midwest partnership with Waseca, Minnesota-based Connors. Each business will benefit from Any Hour’s extensive capabilities in digital marketing, recruitment, training, and operations, while retaining its respective brand, headquarters, and management team.

Wyatt Hepworth other Jeremy HansenCEO and COO of Any Hour, respectively, said, “Any Hour has experienced significant growth over the past 18 months as we continue to execute on our vision of building a differentiated, strategic platform for home services in the Western United States. We are encouraged by the progress we’ve made and look forward to joining forces with such a talented group of operators. Our team is excited to establish a strong presence in several key new geographies through these partnerships, which we intend to build upon further.”

Dustin Van OrmanPresident of Business Development and M&A for Any Hour, added, “We’re honored to be able to partner with like-minded owners and operators that have built strong businesses through a relentless commitment to their customers and employees. We’re excited to provide additional support and resources to these operators so that they can build on their respective momentum and serve more customers in these key markets.”

About Any Hour Group
Founded in 1961, The Any Hour Group is the market-leading home services company in the state of Utah, providing residential customers with a full suite of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services, including repairs, replacements, and maintenance. Any Hour has a long history of organic growth and a workforce of more than 1,200 employees and technicians. Any Hour’s unique culture, commitment to its employees and customers, and track record of success has positioned it for continued growth, with well over $300 million in annual revenue. For more information, please visit www.anyhourservices.com. If you are interested in exploring a partnership with the Any Hour Group, please contact Dustin Van Orman at [email protected].

About Knox Lane
Based in San Francisco, Knox Lane is a growth-oriented investment firm comprised of a team of accomplished investors and operators with a shared work history and a strong track record of partnering with leading companies to accelerate transformational growth. Knox Lane employs an investor-operator mindset and seeks to provide support across a number of business components, including human capital, brand management, end-to-end digital transformation, sourcing, supply chain and logistics, strategic acquisitions and business development. For more information, please visit www.knoxlane.com.

About 3 Mountains Plumbing
For over 22 years, 3 Mountains technicians have been ready to roll out their red carpet service for customers in the Portland, Oregon area. 3 Mountains, led by Bill and Dani Kerrigan, is committed to providing quality plumbing services with exceptional results and premier customer service. The Company gives back in its community through its work with ReFIT, providing pro bono accessibility remodel services for households in need.

About Connors Plumbing & Heating
Connors is a long standing HVAC and plumbing service provider in Waseca, MNthat has established a reputation for top-tier service in the greater Minneapolis area. Connors technicians are known throughout the area for being courteous and trustworthy. Founded in 1949 by Robert Connorsthe company is now led by his daughter, Peggy Hildebrandt.

About EJ Plumbing
EJ Plumbing was established with the goal of providing customers in San Jose other Santa Clara with superior plumbing solutions. EJ is led by Emmanuel Jimenez and is backed by over twenty years of experience. EJ’s friendly technicians are proud of the solid reputation they’ve worked hard to build, with a proven commitment to customer service. Customers can count on finding the quality plumbing services they need – almost.

About Oak Island Heating & Air Conditioning
Oak Island was founded in 1998, providing heating and cooling services to Escondidoand the broader North San Diego area. Oak Island partnered with We Care in 2020 and is led by Jacob Young other Rusty Cochran.

About Pacific Aire
Pacific Aire has been led by Mark Schneider since 1990, providing heating, air conditioning, and plumbing services to the Santa Barbara, Ventura other los Angeles communities. Pacific Aire’s desire to provide outstanding customer service and superior workmanship has never wavered. Pacific Aire employees strive every day to create a professional and pleasant customer experience, achieved through the company’s commitment to growth and education.

About We Care Plumbing, Heating, & Air
For over 20 years, We Care has been serving Southern California as the premier heating, air conditioning, and plumbing company in the area. We Care continues to be the service team of choice for its customers because simply put, “We Care To Go the Extra Mile”. We Care is based in Murrieta, California and led by Rusty Cochran.

About Wizard Plumbing
Wizard has a reputation built on honesty, integrity, and exceptional customer service, serving the San Mateo, San Carlos, Palo Alto, and broader Bay Area for over a decade. Led by Mark Evansthe Wizard team works every day to provide each and every customer with the same quality workmanship they would expect for their own families.

Media Contact
Woomi Yun / Eric Carlson
Joele FrankWilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449

SOURCE Knox Lane; The Any Hour Group

The post Knox Lane-Backed Any Hour Group Grows Residence Companies Management in Western U.S. With Seven New Partnerships appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Dakota Supply Group on Thursday announces its acquisition of Western Steel and Plumbing.

Western, founded in 1949, is a leading distributor of plumbing and HVAC products with two locations in Bismarck and Minot, North Dakota.

“After three generations as a family business and personally 50 years as an employee of Western Steel, I know the time has come to depart and watch the business grow and prosper in the future,” said Western owner Maury Kamins. “I am so proud of our existing staff, a group I would call one of the best in our industry with DSG’s diverse product offerings, excellent website, superior purchasing power, and experienced management team combined with Western Steel’s special talents and history will make our company better than ever before .”

The company will operate as Western Steel and Plumbing, A DSG Company, before eventually transitioning to the DSG brand.

“We’re excited to welcome the Western Steel and Plumbing associates to the DSG team of employee-owners,” DSG President and CEO Paul Kennedy said. “The addition of Western Steel complements our existing strong electrical and waterworks presence in the state and provides a platform for further segment expansion throughout North Dakota.”

DSG is one of the Midwest’s leading distributors of innovative products and services for the electrical, plumbing, HVAC/R, utility, communications, automation, waterworks, and on-site sewer, water, and well industries. DSG is a 100% employee-owned company with more than 900 employee-owners in more than 50 locations across seven states.

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Private equity firm Huron Capital Partners LLC has added to its string of investment exits.

The Detroit-based firm on Wednesday announced the sale of Phoenix-based Pueblo Mechanical and Controls to OMERS Private Equity, a Toronto and New York investment fund with nearly $20 billion in assets under management, according to its website.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the exit marked Huron’s fourth exit over the past 12 months, according to a news release.

“We acquired Pueblo because we believed demand for HVAC repair and installation services would increase and the sector was ripe for consolidation,” Scott Hauncher, a Huron Capital partner, said in a news release. “Since then, regional population growth, aging infrastructure, energy efficiency and sustainability have driven demand for Pueblo’s services.”

A 20-year-old company, Pueblo was acquired by Huron Capital in 2017.

“We have a clear focus to become one of the largest independent technical services operators in the US by leveraging a scalable platform with an experienced and aligned management team,” stated Dan Bueschel, Pueblo CEO. “Due in large part to the investments we made in the systems and team, in addition to leveraging Huron’s demonstrated M&A playbook, we executed and integrated numerous acquisitions including six in 2022 alone.”

Moelis & Co. served as financial adviser for the deal, and Perkins Coie LLP served as legal advisor to Huron and Pueblo.

Huron Capital, which has managed as much as $1.8 billion since its founding in 1999, lists three core areas of focus on its website: commercial and industrial services, professional services and consumer services, primarily focused around residential services.

A news release from Huron Capital late last year said the PE firm completed eight exits in 2021, which included the majority sale of San Francisco-based Sciens Building Solutions to funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle.

Amid increasing uncertainty in economy — driven primarily by inflation, rising interest rates and other factors — private equity executives have said they’ve become more cautious in recent months. James Mahoney, Huron Capital’s managing partner, last month described the feeling to Crain’s as sleeping “with one eye open.”

That sense of hesitation on the part of private equity firms has shown shown up in recent data. Citing numbers from data service Prequin, a new report from PwC says PE deal volumes fell by 26 percent in the first half of 2022 when compared with the same time period last year.

“However, we expect activity to recover given record-high levels of dry powder (US PE totals $975 billion),” reads the PwC report. “Due diligence will be a key safeguard against volatility and possible regulatory action.”

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