The first person to stand outside the Baggu store reopening in the Mission arrived at 6 a.m. on Friday, and by the time the San Francisco-based accessory brand officially debuted five hours later, the line curved well past a corner on Valencia Street. Two locals mingled in the middle, and like many others, they came after seeing on social media that Baggu had created products celebrating the Bay Area’s largest transit agency. “The draw was the BART-themed things,” Andrew N. told SFGATE.
Merch featuring BART’s logo and likeness appeared in the window for the store. Hats, Nalgene bottles and stickers recreating old BART tickets are helping to pump up excitement for the brand’s return to Valencia Street after closing its previous store down the street.
It’s the kind of cross-brand alliance perfectly tailored for a youthful transit lover, launched during Transit Month and at a critical moment for BART. The agency is reckoning with an impending fiscal cliff as it starts making its case to voters to pass a measure to fund the region’s transit agencies next year.
Such hip and positive merchandise could help BART, but there’s an underlying issue. As first reported by the SF Standard, the agency was completely unaware it was appearing in Baggu products. “It is not a partnership and we are surprised to see our logo,” BART wrote in response to the merch on Instagram…