Held Over, a 50-year-old San Francisco vintage store, is suddenly closing

May 29-Held Over, the sprawling vintage store on San Francisco's Haight Street, is closing its doors. The store's final day will be Saturday, May 30, manager KaiAnne VanHorne told SFGATE.

On Friday afternoon, the line for the store's lone register was especially long. "Every item is $9.00," advertised a pink, hand-drawn sign near the door. Customers - a mix of parents, teens and pierced-out young adults - snatched up the store's remaining ties, jackets and blouses.

Slowly but surely, the store's meticulously organized array of military surplus, dresses and single-stitch tees thinned out.

"It's been crazy busy, and we only have four members on our staff," said VanHorne, who joined the store in March.

Among Haight Street's revolving door of retailers, Held Over has remained a 50-year constant. Founded in 1976, the vintage shop is now the last remaining store operated by Retro City Fashions, a local chain founded by German-born Werner Werwie. At its peak, Retro City ran a handful of secondhand shops throughout the Bay Area. Mission Thrift closed in 2018, and Mars Mercantile on Telegraph Ave. followed suit in 2024. Since Werwie's death, his wife, Cynthia Anderson-Werwie, has run the store, said VanHorne.

VanHorne only learned about the impending closure a few days ago, when she received a phone call from Anderson-Werwie. VanHorne said the sudden closure is the result of a lease dispute.

"Everyone's losing their livelihood," VanHorne said of the store's four employees. "Everyone now suddenly doesn't have a job."

SFGATE attempted to contact Anderson-Werwie and Held Over's landlord, but didn't hear back by publication time.

Anderson-Werwie planned to keep the store open through Sunday, VanHorne said, but none of Held Over's employees are scheduled for that day.

VanHorne said that the bright spot of the closure is the local community. Shoppers have come into Held Over and shared stories of the store's old days. (Apparently, a woman wearing a beaded gown danced in its window in the 1980s.) Others have offered to help pass along her resume.

"It's really brought people in who are like, 'Oh my God, I love this store,'" VanHorne said.

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