"During the months after the Aug. 8, 2023 fire, support poured in from neighbors. A GoFundMe raised over $63,000 to rebuild the store. Progress Hardware also received a $10,000 grant for fire disaster relief from San Francisco's Office of Small Businesses, and $9,750 from District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar's office. Locals watched in anticipation as construction workers fixed up the storefront at 724 Irving St. In the past few months, the plywood was removed. The store looks ready."
"But Progress Hardware is not coming back, its co-owner Randy Blair confirmed. The store lost its business and liability insurance coverage due to the fire, he said. The owners also couldn't come to an agreement on a new lease with the current landlord. With tariffs, prices for a hardware's inventory have also gone up. "It's the perfect storm, so to speak," Blair said."
"Joe Blair, Randy's father and co-owner, is 68 and decided that he was ready to retire. The plan was to pass the store on to Randy. But when Randy Blair realized it would cost over $1 million to re-open, he decided to bow out. "The fire just ruined us," Randy Blair said. "I would have to start from the ground up. It's too much of a financial blow.""
Progress Hardware, founded in 1948 in the Inner Sunset, suffered a three-alarm fire on Aug. 8, 2023 that forced closure. Neighbors raised funds and support, including a GoFundMe that collected over $63,000 and municipal grants totaling about $19,750. Construction crews cleaned and repaired the storefront, removing plywood and making the storefront appear ready. The owners lost business and liability insurance and failed to reach a new lease agreement with the landlord. Rising inventory costs and tariffs increased reopening expenses, and Joe Blair decided to retire. Reopening would have required more than $1 million, so the owners chose not to resume operations.
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