Sherri McMullen at her McMullen boutique on Sacramento Street in San Francico. The nationally influential retailer has announced plans for a second location in the city on Maiden Lane.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
A nationally influential presence in the Bay Area fashion scene is staking a claim on one of San Francisco’s most famous shopping destinations.
Award-winning retailer Sherri McMullen plans to open her namesake boutique on Maiden Lane. The two-block alley in Union Square has long been home to upscale fashion retail corridors including current residents Maison Margiela, Suitsupply, Isaia and eyewear store Spectacles of Union Square. Luxury boutiques including Gucci and department store Neiman Marcus are also neighbors on Stockton Street, with Chanel and Bottega Veneta on Geary Street.
The new storefront will be her second in the city, following the opening of her Laurel Heights location at 3687 Sacramento St.
Article continues below this ad
“I’ve loved Maiden Lane since I first moved to San Francisco over 25 years ago,” McMullen told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview announcing the expansion. “It’s always felt different. It’s intimate, it’s pedestrian, and they’ve always had amazing stores and brands. I would say it’s one of the most important retail streets in the country.”
A shearling trench by Petar Petrov photographed at the McMullen boutique in 2024. Sherri McMullen has announced a second San Francisco location will open at Maiden Lane in the fall of 2026.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
McMullen is considered a nationally influential retailer, with her store named one of the best boutiques in the country by Vogue and one of the “most innovative retailers in the world” by Vogue Business. The magazine called McMullen a “discerning source for high-fashion discovery.”
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Since opening her first store in Oakland in 2007, she’s been lauded for carrying and promoting emerging designers of color, including now-established names such as luxury resort brand Diotima, San Francisco jeweler Harwell Godfrey and Christopher John Rogers, winner, of the 2021 Council of Fashion Designers of American Womenswear Designer of the Year, who recently released a capsule collection with Old Navy.
Article continues below this ad
McMullen, to her knowledge, remains the only Black female retailer who owns and operates a luxury concept boutique.
“I don’t know why that’s still the case,” she said, “but I am the only (Black woman) carrying brands at this level in the U.S.”
The new store will take over 135 Maiden Lane, which was most recently used as a temporary location for Bottega Veneta in 2021.
McMullen currently has nine employees at her Sacramento Street store. She expects the new location to double her headcount.
In addition to womenswear and accessories by Khaite, Heirlome, Gabriela Hearst (The Chronicle is owned by the Hearst Corporation) and other brands, McMullen will also carry books, records, fragrances and beauty and home products.
Article continues below this ad
Virgo heel sandals by Dries Van Noten photographed at McMullen on Sacramento Street in 2024.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Describing the Union Square space as more of a concept store than a fashion boutique, McMullen said that she wants shoppers to be able to “pick up a great candle or lipstick” while also being introduced to new designers. Across all her stores, McMullen noted, featuring emerging brands next to established names makes them “a place of discovery.”
The new store is expected to open in October. “The bones are there for something really special,” said McMullen, adding the 6,342-square-foot, two-floor space will be reimagined by New York designer Gabriella Khalil. “There’s a gorgeous staircase that feels like a work of art and aged hardwood floor and beautiful light from the enormous windows.”
A longtime supporter of the Museum of the African Diaspora, the new McMullen location will showcase an original work by Oakland artist Jasmine Ross, who is currently featured in the solo show “Beauty Plus” at the downtown San Francisco museum.
McMullen, a native of Oklahoma City, began her fashion career in as a buyer at Neiman Marcus headquarters in Dallas. She used her own money and a $50,000 investment from friends and family to open her first McMullen store on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. She then moved to Grand Avenue three years later and eventually to Broadway in downtown Oakland in 2018.
Article continues below this ad
Along with her reputation for spotlighting new brands, McMullen has established herself as a worldwide leading figure in Black fashion. Among the store’s more noted clients are entrepreneur and restaurateur Ayesha Curry.
“People do want to go into spaces and spend money with businesses that align with their personal values,” McMullen said. “That’s one of the reasons I think independent retail is important. The culture moves through it.”
Fredrika Newton, left, widow of the Black Panther Party’s co-founder Huey Newton, talks with Sherri McMullen at the McMullen boutique in Oakland in 2021.
Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle
In 2019, McMullen opened a location in Palo Alto but closed it during the 2020 COVID pandemic shutdown. E-commerce helped sustain the business during that time.
After opening the Sacramento Street location and closing her Oakland store in 2024, McMullen filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. The filing came amid a lawsuit by online fashion retailer Moda Operandi over alleged use of copyrighted images on the McMullen website. Court records show Moda Operandi terminated the suit without prejudice in November of that year.
Article continues below this ad
McMullen and her representative declined to comment on the legal matters.
The Maiden Lane move comes as city officials continue to focus on downtown San Francisco’s recovery following an exodus of stores including Crate & Barrel, Saks Fifth Avenue and the January closure of the San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street.
But McMullen said, “I’ve never stopped believing in San Francisco.”
“I look for alignment and not necessarily perfection,” she continued. “This definitely feels like the right time.”