Plump Jack was Queen Elizabeth's name for the rotund Falstaff of Shakespeare's Henry IV. So delighted was she with this roguish character that she asked the Bard to write another play in which Jack would fall in love. Shakespeare answered her with "The Merry Wives of Windsor."

More than simple whimsy, the one-word takeover of its Shakespearean namesake can be taken to signal the Owners' intent that its retail business ventures be united under the same guiding principles. Closer to Falstaff than Forbes, the PlumpJack philosophy enjoining all the business ventures is captured in the company's "core ideology" - a sense of being different, a purpose beyond profits. The management is deeply committed to social and global responsibility, delights in challenging traditional business methods, passionately believes that business can be fun, and demands an exceptional experience for each customer. "PlumpJack will compromise on almost anything, but not our core ideology, our values, our aesthetics, our idealism, or our sense of curiosity," said PlumpJack founders Gavin and Hilary Newsom, fourth-generation San Franciscans and part of the city's great legacy.

For more information visit plumpjack.com.