Fleet Wood's Nico Schwieterman (S3E22)

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

​Coldwater, Ohio, has seven stoplights, by Nico Schwieterman's last count.

In Part 1, Nico, who opened and owns Fleet Wood in the Tenderloin, shares stories of growing up in the small town of Coldwater. Her dad ran a shop where, as a kid, she helped him print shirts. She was your fairly typical teenager, and ended up going to college in Cincinnati. A college internship in 2004 brought her to San Francisco, and she was in love in the first half hour of being here.

In Part 2, Nico tells us about some office jobs she had when she first moved here before switching to screen-printing full-time. She met the folks who run Workshop SF, and starting screen-printing and teaching classes there. Through Workshop, she also started connecting with more creative, "work hard, play hard" types, which whom she identified. She decided to open her own business in 2015. Originally known as Studio Nico, Fleet Wood hit the five-year mark this February, just before shelter-in-place began.

We recorded this episode nearly two months ago, but we checked in with Nico yesterday, and she wanted to share the following in light of the uprising for racial justice:

We would like to announce that we are pledging $5,000 to support Black and underserved youth in San Francisco. A portion of our daily sales will go toward funds for @larkinstreetyouth and Third Street Youth Center & Clinic (Bayview). We stand with our Black brothers and sisters to actively fight back against systemic racism. Read more about what we’re doing at ⚡️fleetwoodsf.com ⚡️

Nico ends Part 2 talking about running a retail business during quarantine.

We recorded this podcast during quarantine in San Francisco in May 2020.