Mayor Lee Announces Heath Ceramics Expansion in San Francisco
SF Retail and Manufacturing Space to Open with 34 Employees Initially in the Northeast Mission Neighborhood, With Growth to 60,000 SF in Future Years
9/6/11— Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the legendary dinnerware and tile maker Heath Ceramics has signed a long-term lease on Florida Street and 18th streets in San Francisco’s Northeast Mission neighborhood. Heath Ceramics will open a 4,000 square foot retail space and 16,000 square foot manufacturing and warehouse space in early 2012. The new facility will house 34 employees in its first year. The company will eventually occupy 60,000 square feet of space over the next three years.
“I am so proud to announce that Heath Ceramics is expanding to San Francisco,” said Mayor Lee. “This company is a great example of what makes San Francisco special – attention to history, dedication to diversity, and a spirit of innovation and creativity. We welcome Heath Ceramics to San Francisco’s thriving manufacturing community, now over 200 companies strong. Heath Ceramics is a great addition to this ecosystem, and they will be in very good company in San Francisco. Most importantly, I want to applaud Heath’s efforts to foster a diverse community through artisan manufacturing.”
“We’re thrilled to be building on a dream and continuing our commitment to local, artisan manufacturing,” said Heath Ceramics Co-Owners Catherine Bailey and Robin Petravic. “We are, and have been since 1948, a California company. With the need for more space to create and innovate, we looked to San Francisco and this neighborhood because of its history as a center of manufacturing and production, and its current reputation as a center for creativity and design. This expansion not only helps create and maintain jobs, but it’s really about building community and supporting this idea that the city can be a creative core.”
This will be the second factory location for Heath, whose original factory in Sausalito will continue to produce dinnerware, house staff and operate a showroom. Heath SF will grow organically, with retail, shipping and tile production jobs supported in the initial phases, with additional jobs in the future.
Heath Ceramics partnered with SFMade, a nonprofit organization that works to secure a strong economic base by developing the local manufacturing sector, in the opening of this facility. “We’re delighted to welcome such a classic brand as Heath into the fold of the more than 200 San Francisco-based manufacturers who are members of SFMade,” said SFMade Executive Director Kate Sofis. “Heath joins the vanguard of small businesses that are helping to reinvigorate the city as a center for artisan manufacturing. I know Heath’s presence in the Northeast Mission will deepen the commitment to supporting the local community that is already shared by the numerous working artisans, craftspeople and manufacturers in the neighborhood.”
While the past two decades saw a decline in San Francisco’s manufacturing base, a new wave of small to mid-sized manufacturers, including apparel producers, furniture makers and food creators, is joining the ranks of companies that produce in San Francisco. From new innovators such as DODOCase to long-standing City institutions like McRoskey Mattress, these companies are contributing to a resurgence in San Francisco’s manufacturing sector, drawn by the City’s creative scene and unique identity. Recently, San Francisco received recognition from President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, through SFMade, to be one of five U.S. cities to participate in a pilot program to incubate small and mid-sized manufacturing companies. The addition of Heath Ceramics to San Francisco’s manufacturing base helps bolster the local economy and will help consumers connect more closely to the products they enjoy.
About Heath Ceramics
Heath Ceramics is a maker, gatherer, and seller of simply designed, highly functional tableware, homeware, and tile. Employing fifty skilled craftspeople at its factory and offices in Sausalito, CA, Heath makes its iconic dinnerware on the premises and with the same techniques—hand-glazing and handcrafting each piece—just as it has been since Edith Heath, an influential potter and designer of the Modernist era, founded the company in 1948. Creating pragmatic, enduring products from the same location for the last sixty years, Heath Ceramics not only believes in the benefits of local manufacturing, but also in keeping the making-process tangible for both the community and customers. For more information, go to: heathceramics.com.
About SFMade
SFMade was founded in 2010 and is a public-private partnership – the only organization of its kind focused on building San Francisco’s economic base by developing the local manufacturing sector. SFMade’s mission is to build and support a vibrant manufacturing sector in the City that sustains companies producing locally-made products, encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, and creates employment opportunities for a diverse local workforce. SFMade currently supports more than 200 local manufacturers who collectively sustain more than 2,500 jobs in San Francisco. For more information, go to: sfmade.org.
9/6/11— Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the legendary dinnerware and tile maker Heath Ceramics has signed a long-term lease on Florida Street and 18th streets in San Francisco’s Northeast Mission neighborhood. Heath Ceramics will open a 4,000 square foot retail space and 16,000 square foot manufacturing and warehouse space in early 2012. The new facility will house 34 employees in its first year. The company will eventually occupy 60,000 square feet of space over the next three years.
“I am so proud to announce that Heath Ceramics is expanding to San Francisco,” said Mayor Lee. “This company is a great example of what makes San Francisco special – attention to history, dedication to diversity, and a spirit of innovation and creativity. We welcome Heath Ceramics to San Francisco’s thriving manufacturing community, now over 200 companies strong. Heath Ceramics is a great addition to this ecosystem, and they will be in very good company in San Francisco. Most importantly, I want to applaud Heath’s efforts to foster a diverse community through artisan manufacturing.”
“We’re thrilled to be building on a dream and continuing our commitment to local, artisan manufacturing,” said Heath Ceramics Co-Owners Catherine Bailey and Robin Petravic. “We are, and have been since 1948, a California company. With the need for more space to create and innovate, we looked to San Francisco and this neighborhood because of its history as a center of manufacturing and production, and its current reputation as a center for creativity and design. This expansion not only helps create and maintain jobs, but it’s really about building community and supporting this idea that the city can be a creative core.”
This will be the second factory location for Heath, whose original factory in Sausalito will continue to produce dinnerware, house staff and operate a showroom. Heath SF will grow organically, with retail, shipping and tile production jobs supported in the initial phases, with additional jobs in the future.
Heath Ceramics partnered with SFMade, a nonprofit organization that works to secure a strong economic base by developing the local manufacturing sector, in the opening of this facility. “We’re delighted to welcome such a classic brand as Heath into the fold of the more than 200 San Francisco-based manufacturers who are members of SFMade,” said SFMade Executive Director Kate Sofis. “Heath joins the vanguard of small businesses that are helping to reinvigorate the city as a center for artisan manufacturing. I know Heath’s presence in the Northeast Mission will deepen the commitment to supporting the local community that is already shared by the numerous working artisans, craftspeople and manufacturers in the neighborhood.”
While the past two decades saw a decline in San Francisco’s manufacturing base, a new wave of small to mid-sized manufacturers, including apparel producers, furniture makers and food creators, is joining the ranks of companies that produce in San Francisco. From new innovators such as DODOCase to long-standing City institutions like McRoskey Mattress, these companies are contributing to a resurgence in San Francisco’s manufacturing sector, drawn by the City’s creative scene and unique identity. Recently, San Francisco received recognition from President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, through SFMade, to be one of five U.S. cities to participate in a pilot program to incubate small and mid-sized manufacturing companies. The addition of Heath Ceramics to San Francisco’s manufacturing base helps bolster the local economy and will help consumers connect more closely to the products they enjoy.
About Heath Ceramics
Heath Ceramics is a maker, gatherer, and seller of simply designed, highly functional tableware, homeware, and tile. Employing fifty skilled craftspeople at its factory and offices in Sausalito, CA, Heath makes its iconic dinnerware on the premises and with the same techniques—hand-glazing and handcrafting each piece—just as it has been since Edith Heath, an influential potter and designer of the Modernist era, founded the company in 1948. Creating pragmatic, enduring products from the same location for the last sixty years, Heath Ceramics not only believes in the benefits of local manufacturing, but also in keeping the making-process tangible for both the community and customers. For more information, go to: heathceramics.com.
About SFMade
SFMade was founded in 2010 and is a public-private partnership – the only organization of its kind focused on building San Francisco’s economic base by developing the local manufacturing sector. SFMade’s mission is to build and support a vibrant manufacturing sector in the City that sustains companies producing locally-made products, encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, and creates employment opportunities for a diverse local workforce. SFMade currently supports more than 200 local manufacturers who collectively sustain more than 2,500 jobs in San Francisco. For more information, go to: sfmade.org.