After a four-year run in Uptown Oakland, Ayesha Curry’s kitchen furnishings shop and cafe Sweet July is closing down permanently Sunday, with ownership citing “the safety of our patrons and staff” as the reason.
Ayesha Curry, half of the Bay Area’s preeminent power couple Steph and Ayesha Curry, always has many irons in the fire. She’s got TV and movie pursuits, her and Steph’s Eat.Learn.Play Foundation is doing relentless charitable work, and her Michael Mina restaurant collaboration International Smoke continues to sizzle in downtown SF. But there will be one less project on Ayesha Curry’s plate, as the Chronicle reports she’s permanently closing her home furnishings store Sweet July, which opened in Oakland’s Uptown District in January 2021.
“In order to prioritize the safety of our patrons and staff, we have made the difficult decision to close our Sweet July cafe and store in Oakland,” the store said in a Saturday Instagram post. “We have loved being a part of Oakland and are grateful for the community that has opened their arms and embraced us. It has been an honor to serve you.”
The store’s last day will be Sunday, February 9, if you're looking for some alternative to the Super Bowl that afternoon.
Yet there might be more to this story, and it may just be a case of slow business. While SFGate points out there was an October 2022 break-in and theft at the store, that is not a lengthy track record of crime problems. Sweet July representatives did not respond to comment requests from Chronicle or SFGate.
And not all of Ayesha Curry’s businesses have flourished. A couple weeks back, International Smoke closed their Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, following previous closures of that restaurant’s San Diego County, Florida and Texas locations. The San Francisco location of International Smoke is the brand’s only remaining restaurant.
The farewell Instagram posts says that “While this chapter comes to a close, Sweet July has exciting new ventures on the horizon that we can’t wait to share.” The concept still operates an online store, and has a companion magazine publication. And the Chronicle also adds the Sweet July will have food trucks at various locations in the Bay Area for mid-February NBA All-Star Game activities.
Image: Sweet July via Facebook
