San Francisco, CA - Mayor London N. Breed today announced that she is nominating Janet Tarlov to serve on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors. Tarlov was the founder and long-time owner of Canyon Market, a full-service natural foods grocery located in the Glen Park neighborhood. She currently serves as the President of the Glen Park Merchants Association and the Vice President of the San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations.
“I’m excited and proud to nominate Janet to serve on the SFMTA Board of Directors,” said Mayor Breed. “Her experience running the beloved Canyon Market in Glen Park and working with merchants citywide has provided her with many insights regarding the work of SFMTA and its impact on small businesses. I look forward to her bringing this perspective to the SFMTA Board.”
“I am deeply honored that Mayor Breed has nominated me to serve San Francisco as a member of the board of the SFMTA,” said Janet Tarlov. “I have great respect for the professionals at the SFMTA who do the hard work of maintaining and planning for the future of San Francisco’s roads and public transportation system. If given the opportunity to serve, I hope to contribute my insight into what matters most to small businesses in San Francisco, particularly when it comes to outreach and planning for infrastructure development.”
Tarlov founded Canyon Market with her husband Richard in 2006. The Market is a busy natural foods grocery located in the heart of Glen Park offering award-winning prepared foods, organic produce, scratch-baked breads and pastries, a full-service butcher counter and catering. The Tarlovs ran the store for over 16 years until they sold it to Gus's Community Markets in 2022.
Tarlov’s contribution to the SFMTA Board will be informed by her experience running a business in Glen Park, a regional transit hub with a BART station, five MUNI bus lines, the J Church light rail and multiple corporate employee shuttles. Her employees at Canyon Market relied primarily on public transit to get to and from work.
Tarlov’s work with the San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations in the City has deepened her understanding of how many of our neighborhood business communities collaborate and communicate internally and how small business owners respond to the many challenges they face daily. The San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations advocates for measures to improve the business climate in San Francisco.
“Janet would be a welcome addition to the SFMTA Board,” said Masood Samereie, President of San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations. “She is an active community leader who understands the transit habits and challenges of small business owners, workers, customers, and delivery drivers. She would be a strong advocate for the needs of small business owners in the commercial corridors so that our roads and transit can function optimally for everyone.”
Tarlov was raised in Pennsylvania. Prior to opening Canyon Market, she managed procurement and distribution for a variety of independent food stores, working extensively in the world of farmstead cheese, representing makers and affineurs from the US and abroad. Tarlov is a graduate of Oberlin College, earning a bachelor’s degree in theater (perfect training for a career in retail service, she asserts). She is also a longtime volunteer for the San Francisco Arts Education Project and has served on its Board of Directors for the last six years. She currently lives in the Eureka Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.
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