Archive for Shopping

Downtown St. Helena (St. Helena)

Napa Valley

Main Street
St. Helena CA

Both locals and visitors alike enjoy strolling through the historic downtown St. Helena shops. Whether it is designer clothing, hardware or a bike you are looking for, it can all be found in downtown St. Helena. The St. Helena Premium Outlets can be found just about two miles north of town along Hwy. 29. The larger Napa Premium outlets are a half hour south in the city of Napa.

www.sthelena.com/visitor/shopping.html

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Downtown Los Gatos – Restaurants/Shopping (Los Gatos)

Los Gatos CA

If you want culture in Silicon Valley, this is your best bet. Historic architecture, an All-American Main Street, cute boutiques, and a wide variety of restaurants, Los Gatos feels like a 21st century version of a Norman Rockwell painting. Easy to get to because of its proximity to Highway 17.

www.bestofbayarea.com

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San Jose Flea Market – Biggest Open Air Market in US (San Jose)

San Jose

1590 Berryessa Road
San Jose CA
P: 408.453.1110  

A California tradition for over 4 decades, the Flea Market has grown into the biggest open-air market in the U.S., featuring 8 miles of colorful alleys and treasure-laden corridors where over 2,000 vendors hawk their wares across 120 acres of land. More than 4 million people visit annually, so expect a crowd, especially if you go on a weekend.

www.sjfm.com

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Santana Row – Restaurants/Shopping (San Jose)

San Jose

400 South Winchester Boulevard
San Jose CA
P: 408.551.4600  

The new Santana Row shopping village creates a sense of European urbanity. With a weekly Farmers Market, well-known retail shops like Gucci and Diesel, and some stylish restaurants (many from San Francisco like Blowfish Sushi and the Straits Café), Santana Row is a good place to get your dose of culture.

www.santanarow.com

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Downtown Tiburon – Restaurants/Shopping (Tiburon)

Tiburon

 

Tiburon is the last bastion of homegrown stores in Marin. Without a chain in sight, Main Street is a collection of pricey boutiques, eclectic shops and historic buildings. The nicest thing about this neighborhood is how walkable it is (plus the view of San Francisco are spectacular if you go into any of the dockside restaurants like Guaymas or Sam’s Anchor Cafe). Look for Tiburon’s Ark Row further down Main Street, a borough that in the 1890’s was a houseboat neighborhood.

www.tiburon.org

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Downtown Mill Valley – Restaurants/Shopping (Mill Valley)

Mill Valley

Sunnyside and Miller Avenues

This former mill town has become a hotbed for bourgeois bohemian families. An off mix of laid-back attitudes (middle-agers playing hackey sack in the town center) and Yuppie lifestyles prevails here. Browse the cute little boutiques, have a latte at the popular Depot coffee house and bookstore, and do some great “only-in-Marin” people watching.

www.bestofbayarea.com

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Ferry Building Marketplace – Tours/Shopping – Downtown SF/Embarcadero

Ferry Building Marketplace
Address:   One Ferry Building
City:   San Francisco
Phone:   415-693-0996 

Summary:   Built in 1898, the ferry building has survived two major earthquakes and efforts to demolish it. It was restored and revitalized beginning in the mid-1990’s. Since 2003, people have been coming to the ferry building for gourmet restaurants, dozens of specialty shops, and a sprawling outdoors farmers’ market sponsored by a non-profit organization which promotes sustainable local farming.

www.bestofbayarea.com

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Rainbow Grocery Cooperative – Site Seeing (Castro Mission)

Castro / Mission

1745 Folsom Street
San Francisco CA
P: 415.863.0620  

Do you want to experience a little piece of 1960’s San Francisco? This worker-owned cooperative in the Mission is one of the most environmentally conscious, politically correct groceries you’ll ever come across. It makes the Whole Foods Market feel aristocratic. But, rather than being too dogmatic, the store is brimming full of interesting stuff from the healthiest of produce to a holistic apothecary. If you are a health nut, this is a great place to connect with all kinds of alternative therapies. Just don’t ask where the steak is as there’s no meats in this gigantic warehouse of a store.

www.rainbowgrocery.org

www.bestofbayarea.com
Web Directory – Events Calendar – Newsletter

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Embarcadero Center – Foreign Films/Shopping/Inner City Mall (Embarcadero)

Embarcadero

Spans a 6 block radius from the Embarcadero/Drumm St.
San Francisco CA
P: 415.772.0700  

Some people compare this 4-building retail/office complex with what it feels
like being in Manhattan. The city’s best foreign film theater complex (with 4 theaters) is on the 2nd floor of Embarcadero 1. During the Christmas holidays, the Kristi Yamaguchi ice skating rink is set up in Justin
Herman Plaza in front of the locally-reviled Vaillancourt Fountain – this is also a good spot to catch some music and arts & crafts vendors during the
better weather season. More than 100 retailers are located on the lower floors of Embarcadero Center with
most being open from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

www.embarcaderocenter.com

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Amoeba Records

Haight-Ashbury

1855 Haight Street
San Francisco CA
P: 415.831.1200  

What an inventive use for a former voluminous bowling alley (which, by the way, was called “rock ‘n bowl”)! The largest independent record store in the country, Amoeba is a favorite with every visiting musician as you’ll find rare posters, videos, records and used CD’s here. They also have live shows occasionally. If you want to know what’s happening musically in town, this is the place.

www.amoebamusic.com

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