Cable Car Clothiers

SAN FRANCISCO’S OLDEST RETAILER & CITY ICON
"Since 1946, our storefront focuses on traditional, men’s Bristish-style clothing and hats."

FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED FOR OVER 75 YEARS

Cable Car Clothiers, named after the Cable Car line on Powell and O’Farrell Streets, was founded in 1946 in San Francisco by Charlie Pivnick as a war surplus store called Vet’s Mercantile. In 1954, as military surplus sources dried up and the store began to focus more on traditional, British-style clothing, it was renamed Cable Car Clothiers. In 1972, Pivnick purchased and incorporated Robert Kirk, a San Francisco retailer founded in 1939 and also known for a focus on traditional, British-style clothing, thus allowing itself the motto “San Francisco’s British Goods Store Since 1939.”

The flagship store was established at 150 Post Street. In the early 1980s Cable Car Clothiers was located mid-block on Sutter Street, in the Union Square area and later to the corner of Bush & Sansome St. Finally, in late 2012, the new Cable Car Clothiers moved back to its roots on Sutter Street and opened a 1930s Barber Shop to complement its fine selection of clothing and hats and caps. Today the store is owned and managed by Charles Pivnick’s grandson Jonathon Levin.

The store features a broad mix of classic sportscoats and jackets, distinctive and tasty neckwear, shirts and accessories from brands Drake’s, Southwick and Hickey Freeman and Corgi. Cable Car Clothiers has a great selection of headwear from schoolboy caps to fine fedoras with a few gentleman western styles thrown in for good measure. Top off your visit with a straight razor shave and a little St Johns Bay Rum treatment in the barbershop.

It’s a fine shop in a fine city.

Visit their website: www.cablecarclothiers.com