04/30/2026
#7 When I opened On Waverly, I knew what I wanted. I had a clear point of view about Asian American creative culture as I knew it. What I didn’t expect was how emotional it would become.
There’s a table in the shop covered in stickers and pins. I’ll watch people stand there, laughing, calling friends over, sometimes crying. Someone will pick something up and pause. You can see it hit them. When I ask what they’re feeling, they’ll say, “I never thought this would exist.”
It’s phrases they grew up hearing. Small cultural references they had always carried privately, suddenly reflected back at them in a public space. That moment of recognition is powerful. It’s nostalgia, but it’s also something deeper. It’s the feeling of being seen.
My sister Jenn and I didn’t grow up planning to work together. In 2010, she asked me, “If you could do anything someday, what would it be?” At the time, I was running my husband’s oral surgery practice, after years working in fashion in L.A. I said, “I think I’d love to have a little shop.”
We opened Seedstore in the Inner Richmond and ran it for 10 years. Somewhere along the way, I realized a store isn’t just a place to buy things. It’s a place where people meet. Where they recognize each other. Where a neighborhood starts to feel like a community.
On Waverly grew out of that same instinct. I wanted the shop to be more than a store. I love books, history, and community, so I wanted a space that could serve multiple purposes, supporting local art, fostering creativity, and also engaging with social justice and community organizing in a meaningful way.
I haven’t planned most of this. It’s really been about noticing opportunities and asking myself, “What do I think is cool? Who do I want to spend time with?” That question has driven everything. I want to be around creative people doing interesting projects, and On Waverly became a space that brings all of that together.
San Francisco itself makes that possible. The city’s energy, its neighborhoods, the mix of cultures and creativity create the conditions for a place like On Waverly to exist.
–Cynthia Huie •
