Jillian D'Onfro

San Francisco

Reporter at The San Francisco Standard

Business reporter at @SFStandard ✨ Formerly at SFGATE, Business Insider, CNBC, and Forbes. DM me tips, story ideas, and your favorite short fiction

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Articles

Le Marais outpost Grand Creperie closing in the Ferry Building

3 days ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

An outpost of a popular bakery in the Ferry Building is losing its lease, the owners said Tuesday. Le Marais Bakery owners Patrick and Joanna Ascaso announced the “sudden and unexpected” news in an Instagram post. The pair opened their offshoot shop, Grande Creperie, in the Ferry Building in spring 2022.
Burning Man ticket site plans to refund buyers after tax snafu.

1 week ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

It’s been a tough few years for Burning Man, the annual late-summer bacchanal in the Nevada desert. Now, less than three months before the 2025 festival, would-be Burners trying to buy tickets on the secondary market are accusing the official resale partner of doing them dirty.
California tourism expected to fall for the first time in five years

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

International visitor numbers are predicted to plummet, especially from Mexico and Canada. The state is trying its damnedest to woo them back. California is doing the tourism equivalent of holding a boombox up to the window to woo back one of its most important visitor groups: Canadians.
There's a war in the real estate industry over private listings

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

Zillow and Compass Group are facing off over so-called hidden homes — exclusive properties most would-be buyers can't see. East Bay real estate agent Andrea Chopp was working to close in on a potential five-figure payday when she heard the words people in her profession increasingly fear. Chopp, who works for Redfin, was in talks with a couple who wanted to sell their Craftsman-style North Berkeley home, which she pegged at a sell-price above $1.5 million.
AI is now answering the phone at dozens of SF restaurants

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

Hostie, the startup behind the bot which was founded by a pizzeria owner, just raised its seed round of funding. At Burma Love on Valencia Street, a phone that used to ring dozens of times per shift with patrons calling to inquire about reservations or private events has gone all but silent. Until recently, that would have been an ominous sign of a restaurant on life support.
Oakland trucking companies hit by U.S. trade war weigh job cuts

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

Business at the Port of Oakland has dropped more than 70% for some due to the economic face-off between the U.S. and China. Bill Aboudi has noticed some changes to his view at the 15-acre truck parking and services facility he runs near the Port of Oakland: Lately, he’s spotted more gaps in the colorful walls of shipping containers that line the city’s coastline.
Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square is closing

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

The news comes less than a year after the luxury department store switched to an appointment-only strategy. Less than a year after shifting to an appointment-only model, Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square is closing, the company announced Wednesday. Its final day will be May 10. The closure of the five-floor luxury department store is a bruising (but not unexpected) blow for Union Square, which has had a rash of retail departures in recent years.
San Francisco's budding tourism comeback hits the Trump slump

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

“We canceled because Trump’s policy on immigrants was unpleasant,” she said. The flood of stories about European visitors being denied entrance to the U.S. or even imprisoned, despite holding valid travel documents, felt like an assault. “This filled us with a very bad feeling.” Her family opted to travel to Spain instead. This was meant to be a comeback year for SF’s vital tourism industry.
The "doom boom" spurs surging sign-ups for survival classes

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Jillian D'Onfro

Recent events have me more jittery about the likelihood of societal collapse. Apparently, I’m not alone. Recent events have me more jittery about the likelihood of societal collapse. Apparently, I’m not alone. Silicon Valley’s elite plan to ride out the end times in relative peace from their massive compounds in Montana or New Zealand, replete with underground swimming pools, helipads, and blast doors. But I’m a regular person in a rented apartment.
To Join This New Startup, You Have to Pass a Crazy Series of Tests

Nov 25, 2024 | inc.com | Jillian D'Onfro

The “strangest thing that’s ever happened” to Elaine Gaddam wouldn’t have come about if she hadn’t followed Rakesh “Rocky” Agrawal on Twitter. In early May, Agrawal had a meltdown on Twitter. Long an outspoken figure in the mobile payments space, Agrawal had taken a job as PayPal’s new director of global strategy. He remained in the position only two months before sending in his resignation letter one Friday evening.