PIA TO CLOSE AFTER 2 YEARS

After two years in Jackson Square, designer fashion boutique Pia the Store will be closing in January. The announcement was made via the boutique’s Instagram account @piathestore on Dec. 26. The notice thanked followers “for making this store one of the top shopping destinations in San Francisco.”

Pia was opened by former corporate attorney Pia Øien Cohler in September 2016 as the Jackson Square neighborhood was going through the early stages of a retail renaissance. Cohler plans to return to law in 2019 to work with the Innocence Project.

Although the store’s six full-time employees were notified by Cohler months ahead of the closing, store director Shannon Jett said she was shocked by the news initially. “The store was showing tremendous sales growth,” Jett said. “We were up 30 percent in sales this fall. We were building a brand.”

But why shut down a business not only growing in sales but quickly building a reputation as a San Francisco retail hot spot? The simple answer? Pia the woman was over Pia the Store.

“It wasn’t about the money or sales, honestly — Pia’s heart wasn’t in it anymore,” Jett said. “That was the bottom line.”

Jett said that the store’s lease, which is up at the end of January, also played into the timing of the closure. The store’s final day will be Jan. 19. When Cohler launched Pia in 2016, several new stores had recently opened in the Jackson Square area, including A.P.C., Aesop and Isabel Marant. Pia the Store (414 Jackson St.), which formerly housed European shop La Boutique, carries high-end designers including Alexander Wang, Delpozo, Moschino, Prabal Gurung and Pia the Store opened in September 2016 as the neighborhood was going through the early stages of a retail renaissance.

others and also featured local artists and photographers in rotating in-store exhibitions and events.

Cohler is married to venture capitalist Matt Cohler, who was the vice president of product management for Facebook

until 2008. The store’s opening party attracted many tech and finance heavyweights, including investor Joshua Kushner (brother of presidential adviser Jared Kushner); Nicole Systrom, the founder of Sutro Energy Group who is married to Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom; Dr. Priscilla Chan, who is married to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg; art consultant Sabrina Buell and her husband, industrial designer Yves Béhar; and Ali Pincus, cofounder of One Kings Lane. Among the commenters on the store’s goodbye announcement on Instagram was Kaitlyn Krieger, who is married to Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.

In addition to Pia, the former Jake and Guideboat boutiques have also closed in the Jackson Square area in the past two years. Fashion label Zimmerman is the most recent store to open in the area. Pia will also cease sales on luxury retail portal Farfetch.com in January. In-store markdowns are up to 80 percent off.

Tony Bravo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tbravo@sfchronicle.com

Angie Silvy