826 is located upon a strict shopping street in San Francisco, however it was not a shop. 826 was an after school enrichment center for students that could only find a home upon Valencia street. Because of the strict rules of the street they had to create a store front to legitimize why they were there, and then the Pirate Store was born.
“The pirate supply store was originally created through necessity. After being turned down for regular use of church basements and school facilities, the founders discovered an empty store for sale on Valencia Street. The city ordinances stated that any businesses in that particular area of the city must be either retail or catering, so the Pirate Supply Store was developed as the "legitimate" business front for the writing center.”
-wikipedia.org
