Preserving the past and fueling the future: The vital role of Welcome Haight & Ashbury

HAIGHT ASHBURY — A local of Haight-Ashbury, self-proclaimed as the living embodiment of the iconic cartoon character "Mr. Natural," stumbled upon his own likeness gracing a T-shirt within a small shop nestled along Haight Street.

“I’ve been Mr. Natural since the early ‘60s,” said Mr. Natural. “I’m the model, Crumb is the artist.”

Mr. Natural, his legal name since 1973, said he got to know the comic book artist – famously known as R. Crumb – when Crumb moved to the Haight in 1968.

Welcome Haight & Ashbury, a welcome center and counterculture museum, works toward revitalizing the neighborhood while staying true to its history.

The store features neighborhood legends, like Mr. Natural, in their merchandise along with locally designed artistry of all things hippie and San Francisco. One can find anything from a mushroom mug to a Volkswagen bug baby onesie.

“I think Robert, the owner, really respects the history. You can see it lined all the way around the room,” said Linda Kelly, a store clerk. “Even the music we play here totally adheres to that.”

Decorated with posters displaying neighborhood figures, like Dr. Dave, the founder of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, and filled with products centered around the Summer of Love in 1967, the store is an homage to the Haight.

Not only does the store's merchandise serve as a reminder of the community’s history, but the building it's in does as well. Welcome Haight & Ashbury operates inside the Doolan Larson building, a colonial revival-style residence established in 1903 and is now owned by San Francisco Heritage.

10% of every sale at the shop supports the mission of SF Heritage to preserve and enhance San Francisco’s unique architectural and cultural identity, according to a pamphlet given out by Welcome Haight & Ashbury.

To promote other businesses and tourism in the area, the pamphlet includes a free neighborhood map.

“Every September, I wake up really early, go up and down the street and cross off all the businesses that have closed or opened,” said the store manager Eamon Doyle.

 And the store has signs and workers advertising other businesses in the Haight.

“We tell people to go to wherever," Kelly said. "Go to the Psychedelic Gallery. Mendels if you need something. Go to Amoeba Records."

Several businesses closed its doors in the Haight during 2023 including a Singaporean chain restaurant Vegan Burg, a 33-year-old jazz club Club Deluxe, and most recently the Blue Front Cafe.

But Doyle said he’s seen a lot of improvements in 2024.

“This year, we’re seeing very promising numbers in January and February,” Doyle said. “So I think that we’re going to have a very good spring and a very good summer.”

Welcome Haight & Ashbury is one of the three SF Mercantile brick-and-mortar stores owned by Robert Emmons, and is located at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets on 1500 Haight St.