Gump’s of San Francisco, one of the nation’s oldest and well-known luxury furnishings and home décor retailers, will re-open in October of 2019 under the management of descendants of founder Solomon Gump.
The Gump’s brand is based out of San Francisco, California and New York, New York. The 158-year-old store is elegant, sophisticated, and rich in old-school style and customer service.
Getting its start in 1861 by selling exotic jewelry and gifts, the brand today is known for its lovely housewares, exquisite furniture, apparel, linens, tableware, items for entertaining at home, hand-crafted ornaments, collectibles, and unique gifts. The store’s china and crystal are unparalleled.
Exquisite jewelry is still sold there. Jewelry made from cultured freshwater pearls, precious gemstones, and Asian jade have been sold for there for the last century. Gump’s is known for selling items designed by famous designers Hermes and Buccellati and others.
Over its long history, the brand has served millions of customers. The store has some loyal customers and a brand name that is known and revered all over the world. Generations of bay area families and San Francisco tourists have found lovely, unique gifts there.
The store’s customers have always been affluent individuals with a lot of disposable income. Today, the brand’s customers are wealthy young people in their 30s and 40s.
John and Diane Chachas invested in the brand since 2007. The couple recently gained the majority interest in the company and handed ownership of the brand to their three children, Anne, Christopher and Jack Chachas. Antionette Gump, great, great granddaughter of the founder, is pleased to see the family business go back under family control.
In a twist of fate, the iconic luxury store relocated back to the same space it occupied between 1909 and 1994 at 250 Post Street in San Fransisco’s Union Square. This site is also just one block away from its much-larger, three-level original space.
The Buddha statue that shoppers saw at the former location will not be at the new location. It was sold by a previous owner at auction in May. The 2,000 square feet of floor space in the new location would be prohibitive, anyway. Instead, elaborately adorned trees and windows will be used to attract consumers into the store when it opens close to Christmas.
All of the established traditions will continue under the new management in the new location. The new owners plan to re-launch the brand in both North America and Europe. In addition to the October 2019 opening of the San Francisco store, the brand will re-launch online.
The Gump’s San Francisco store may be at the new location for just four months. Christmas sales will help to determine how well the new location can attract customers. If the store remains at the new location, it must overcome some of the neighborhood’s recent decline. A permanent location has not yet been confirmed.
The new owners will communicate to customers about opening day on its website www.gumps.com and also through the brand’s social presence on Twitter and Instagram.
