News — SF Store

Ayumi and Aaron created this amazing window display for us that will be up until the end of the year (our final display!). If you're in San Francisco soon, be sure to stop by and say hello to these happy gardeners!

Our SF store officially opened eight years ago today on October 4th, 2002! It's also Lart's birthday (well, not the same year) and we think the fact that Lart and our store share a birthday is no coincidence. Well, strictly speaking it is, but in a "wow, crazy" kind of way. So Happy Birthday Lart and Happy Birthday store! (It's also the birthday of St. Francis, so yay for animals too!).

As always, our anniversary is a good occasion to express our year-long sincere thanks to all our customers, friends, and family for keeping us going. LO wouldn't be LO without you!

Our new 2011 fold-out calendar & poster by Ron Rege, Jr. is now in our SF store (and will be available online next week)! Come check out its amazingness! It folds out to a whopping 18" x 24" and like one of those 3-D posters from the '90s, seems to reveal things to you the longer you stare at it. It was printed in Hayward, CA on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks and we are making a limited edition of 50 unfolded posters available only at the SF store, so act fast!

front of calendar

poster side for after the year is over

close-up

Oakland artist Paul Morgan created an incredible new window display for us out of double-sided triangles screenprinted with his amazing patterns forming what is almost a quilt of multi-colored paper in our large front window. It's shapes within shapes within shapes and can be viewed from a micro to macro level, all designed, screened, and assembled by Paul! And as a companion piece, Jessalyn Aaland used some of Paul's scraps to create two great collages on our sandwich board pretty much off-the-cuff!

You can even bring some of this window magic home--we have 5 different exclusive prints of the patterns that are used in the window display (but in a more convenient rectangle form) for only $15 each or you can get a set of all 5 for $50! This is one of our last window displays before we close so come on down and check it out!

photos by Amara Dan

We'd like to share the news with you that after eight (8!) great years in the Mission, our SF store will be closing its doors at the end of this year, but not to worry, there will still be lots of LO to be had online and even in-person!

As some of you may know, we have been fortunate to have subleased our store space on Valencia Street from McSweeney's these past four years. During that time, they have expanded beyond capacity and their office is now jam-packed with busy folks working on all manner of neat things. One of the results is that their new non-profit, Scholar Match, needs our storefront space to open a drop-in center for students looking for help getting funding for college. While we would have loved to stay forever, we are glad to make way for a worthwhile cause.

This development also serves as a natural transition for us to focus full-time on our publishing efforts. While we will greatly miss seeing you at the SF store, we look forward to seeing you at new & different venues like craft fairs, conventions, and trunk shows (perhaps even a new storefront one day?). We are also still running our online shop and will work to incorporate more of your favorite goods from the store so you'll be able to visit us anytime online.

In the meantime, we still have lots planned for our remaining months in SF. On July 31st, we'll be debuting our brand new Lart C. Berliner “Alpine Songs Weekly Planner” at the store and at Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason. In August, East Bay artist Paul Morgan will be installing our most ambitious window display yet, with accompanying brand new prints. Not to mention we'll still be bringing in the coolest paper goods, illustrated books, and crafts we can find.  So drop by and say hi—our shop wouldn't be the same without you! Thanks for all your support!

all our best,
yvonne & jeremy