Opening a Popular Bakery Drove One San Francisco Woman to Homelessness | Eater SF
"Near Oracle Park, a blue-and-yellow facade ushers well-heeled customers toward tiny glass tables where silver multi-tiered serving trays sit in waiting, matcha macarons on each ring and an eyeless bird perched at the top of the display. Launched online in 2020 — two months before Bay Area COVID lockdowns — the business grew quickly: Food Network Online added the “Chipper” chocolate chip cookie, a Guittard chocolate-infused treat with Rice Krispies and a marshmallow on top, to its list of 15 Seriously Delicious Cookies You Can Order Online; Forbes profiled the founder’s “foodie-influenced bakes” and included the operation on a Forbes list of woman-owned online retailers; Reader’s Digest listed the online-only treats among “85 Thoughtful Gifts for Her She Will Really Appreciate”; Goldbelly put the brand on its marketplace; the operation regularly catered Salesforce and Apple; and Rachael Ray gave it some shine. The founder had worked in corporate marketing and retail finance (Forever 21) and filed incorporation papers two days after being laid off from eBay at the end of 2019; she moved into a cloud kitchen, sales soared — “We knew we were kind of onto something,” Arnsdorff says — and a storefront opened in December 2021 a few blocks from the ballpark (later described as a shop at Third and Grant streets). Early hopes were undercut by consecutive disasters: “We’ve had a series of really incredible, horrific challenges,” Arnsdorff says — an oven fell on her during the move, another fell off its dolly, a massive flood she says was caused by the landlord cost about $10,000 in damages and labor, and undisclosed space issues surfaced after signing. Mounting expenses forced the couple to give up their apartment and adopt #vanlife; after a sideswipe totaled their new van the insurance sided with the other driver and they spent six months living in a U‑Haul. Most nights they slept along the eastern waterfront, returning to the shop after the witching hour to brush their teeth and get ready to drop cookies; Arnsdorff bought a lavender spray and hung blankets on the windows to make the mattress-on-the-floor setup feel more homey. Despite hardship they maintained staff and pay and served a daily family meal; the founder says the period was both disillusioning and satisfying, and that it highlighted how easily she could be living like those in encampments after a string of events. The social context is underscored by UCSF’s observation that “the misperception that people without homes are perpetrators, rather than victims, of violence contributes to both criminalizing homelessness and dehumanizing people without housing.” District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey says the story “reflects a deeper crisis” where too many people are just one setback away from losing their housing, adding, “No one — especially a small business owner who is creating jobs and investing in our neighborhoods — should be forced into homelessness to keep their dream alive,” and, “We need to build significantly more housing at all income levels and expand access to supportive services, so that success in San Francisco doesn’t come at the cost of stability or dignity.” Longtime customer Judy Abad calls the shop a preferred local meeting spot and emphasizes the founder’s resiliency: “I grieve for the pre-COVID San Francisco,” Abad says. “It felt alive and [like] a time when people were more unified. Now it feels more siloed, all delivery, never leave.” After living in a “roach motel” near the store in December 2023 they upgraded to a “safe building” in December 2024, and the founder remains hopeful but cautious about expansion: “We really feel like this area has recovered extremely slow,” Arnsdorff says. “We are facing the reality that we can only do this for so long,” Arnsdorff says. “It’s pretty extreme.” She hopes to open a second location to offset costs and make the glittering bakery more than a come-and-go story, wanting it to be a lifeline rather than a fleeting success." - Paolo Bicchieri
