Storefront Anand Sheth Fosters Art + Ideas In San Francisco

In San Francisco’s Mission District, the former Lucca Ravioli Co. building has found new life as Storefront Anand Sheth, a hybrid exhibition space that defies easy categorization. Designed and built in under a month by Studio Anand Sheth in collaboration with York Street Collective, the corner storefront operates as gallery, concept shop, and evening tea house, serving as an immersive and functional showroom for the curated works of art and design within.

Sheth’s hospitality design background—evident in his hotel and restaurant projects—informs every detail here. It’s a space for lingering, not for quick browsing, and the works are meant to be accessible. Rather than velvet ropes or glass boxes, the displays are made from gondola shelving salvaged from a closing Rite Aid, reconfigured onto a backbone of custom OSB. “It’s a quiet protest against formula retail,” Sheth explains. Furniture by Fyrn, RAD, and Domestic Goods invites sitting. Lighting from Entler and Idaho Wood Lighting shifts with the time of day. Two sculptures by Andy Vogt, crafted from reclaimed wood lathe, ground the space in Bay Area history. It’s all carefully choreographed against a minimalist background of OSB, strategically sanded and finished to tone down its often chaotic patterns.

Anand Sheth Reimagines A Deli Into An Immersive Showroom

Sheth describes the site as a “corner full of memory.” For 100 years it was home to an Italian deli that was a Mission District landmark until its closing in 2019. After sitting vacant for a time, and other misfortunes including a police car crashing through its windows, it was rebuilt into a characterless “white box” with harsh lighting. Sheth, who has lived a block away for decades, wanted to imbibe the space with some of its original warmth and character. Yellow hues serve to soften the gallery-like feel, while the checkerboard floor references Lucca’s original pattern, and the preserved exterior mural honors the building’s 1893 heritage.

Featured artists and designers rotate throughout the four-month residency, with programming including panels, product launches, and artist receptions. It’s a space that treats art objects as familiar and comfortable, and a test piece for Sheth’s philosophy of closing the gap between design and daily life. 

Anand Sheth Bridges The Gap Between Design + Daily Life