San Francisco Shopping Tips by nomadig

Name of Shop: Apple Store

Apple Store is the only computer store I have seen people queueing into without any special happenings or discounts. The store is very light and displayed items have enough room around them. The whole shop has an exclusive mark -- probably something that Apple has trying to achieve.

The ground floor has the gadgets: laptops, desktops, displays, iPODs and accessories. The big screens are impressive, and other stuff sold is also very designed.

The upper floor hosts books and a small theater for lectures and other shows.


What To Pay: The items are sold with the street price, so this is not an outlet.

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Theme: Computers and Electronics
Phone: +1 415 392 0202
Address: 1 Stockton Street
Directions: At the corner of Market Street.
Website: www.apple.com

Name of Shop: Union Square

Union Square is the ground zero for shopping in San Francisco. Surrounded by big department stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Marcus Neimann and Macy's, and by speciality outlets, it offers more spending possibilities than your wallet can endure.

The boutiques are mostly to east of the square, on Post, Geary and Sutter streets.

The square itself has a small park that is nice to stroll and sit in between shopping. There is a café and theatre ticket booth on the square, too. And those of us travelling by cars can park their mobiles in underground garage below the park.



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Theme: Department Store
Address: Geary Street x Powell Street

Name of Shop: San Francisco Shopping Center

San Francisco downtown has one good mall, located on the corner of Market Street and 5th Street. The few first floors host boutiques and Nordstrom department store is on the topmost floors.

The boutiques are pricey and Nordstrom is not cheap either, so prepare to have a thick wallet or enough credit with your credit cards to fully enjoy this place.

The mall is especially good at clothes, thanks partially to Nordstrom, but there are some other shops, too.



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Theme: Department Store
Phone: +1 415 512 6776
Address: 865 Market Street
Website: http://www.westfield.com/sanfrancisco/
Other Contact: sanfrancisco@westfield.com

Name of Shop: Old Navy

Old Navy is the discount chain owned by the company behing GAP and Banana Republic. The Old Navy stores are not that fancy as the other chains', as they concentrate to deliver clothes with smaller pricetag.

The clothes are of good quality, but the design is not always the best. The store itself has cheapish feel and does not induce to spend time in browsing and trying out different outfits.

This specific store is huge, there are four floors of garments for both sexes, including maternity and bigger sizes. The upmost floor has a good selection of children clothing, too.



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Theme: Men's Clothes
Phone: +1 415 344 0375
Address: 801 Market Street
Directions: At the corner of Market Street and Fourth Street
Website: www.oldnavy.com

Name of Shop: CompUSA

CompUSA is a well stocked computer superstore on Market Street in San Francisco. The store looks miniscule from the street level, but all the stuff is located in the basement.

You can satisfy all of your basic computing needs here, including Apples. There are also networking stuff, PDAs, software and a lot of various accessories available.

As an extra gimmick the store provides free Internet access with a few computers. Usually all of those are taken, so be prepaped to wait 10-20 minutes for your turn.



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Theme: Computers and Electronics
Phone: +1 415 391-9778
Address: 750 Market Street
Website: www.compusa.com

Name of Shop: Virgin Megastore

Virgin Megastore is a meccah for music lovers, film freaks and people interested in fan stuff. All three floors of the store are filled with various items for killing time.

The ground floor has most of the music collection, mostly mainstream with some more peculiar groups here and there. The second floor has classics collections. Movies and games are spread on the upper floors, too. There is a small collection of books at one corner of the third floor. It used to be better a few years back and now you are better off in Borders on Union Square.

The third floor hosts a smallish café that has nice views to Market Street.



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Theme: Music
Phone: +1 415 397 4525
Address: 2 Stockton Street
Directions: At the corner of Stockton Street and Market Street
Website: http://www.virginmegamagazine.com/

Name of Shop: Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters is a combination of Diesel and Crate & Barrel with an edge -- if that clarifies anything. So, if you are looking for trendy clothes or some small items to your house, this place is worth of visit.

The target group for the shop is 20/30-something, so do not expect to find any easy garments there. Remember also not to push the limits too far, as you end up looking ridiculous. Style is a fine line with these garments.



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Theme: Home Furnishing
Phone: +1 415 989 1515
Address: 80 Powell Street
Website: www.urbanoutfitters.com

Name of Shop: Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus is a top-notch department store at the Union Square. The store caters especially for those of us that do not have to watch every penny.

The brands include names such as Burberry, Prada Sport, Yves Saint Laurent, Etro, Dolce & Gabbana and so forth. And this was only a small part of the fashion brands, the list continues with other areas of living, such as accessories or home. You probably got the picture...

The store has different events on regular basis, and sometimes you may be able to see one of the designers, too.

So, if you are a fashion aficionado with thick enough wallet, check this store out.



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Theme: Department Store
Phone: +1 415 362 3900
Address: 150 Stockton Street
Directions: At the Union Square
Website: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/

Name of Shop: SFMoMA Store

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has an excellent collection of art that is accompanied with an excellent museum store. The groundfloor showroom is huge and it contains all varieties of good sold in the typical museum store.

The art book collection is good and especially modern and contemporary artists and genres are well presented. Of course, the museum exhibition books are available. The counters near the entrance has a good selection of jewelry with quite inexpensive prices.

The other end of the store has a collection of modern classics in general design, kitchenware and furniture. There is a sizable collection of Finnish design items, too.

Children have their own section with all kinds of games and other activities. If you are bored with the airport toy selection, this is a good place to find something special to bring to your children.

Some of the items are available on their website.



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Theme: Art
Phone: +1 415 357 4000
Address: 151 Third Street
Website: http://www.sfmoma.org/museumstore/

Name of Shop: Saks Fifth Avenue - The Men Store

Saks Fifth Avenue has established itself as one of the most respected fashion destinations for any self-respecting gentleman. The San Francisco Saks store has been split into two parts, and the collections for him are located on Post Street, between Stockton Street and Grant Avenue.

The downstairs has timeless atmosphere with dark wood cabinets and clerks in dark suits. The service is very delicate but still friendly. The collections include all relevant brands.


What To Pay: This shop is not for the cheapskates, but there is no extra in the prices either. Everything is just outrageously pricey.

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Theme: Men's Clothes
Phone: +1 415 986 4300
Address: 220 Post Street
Website: http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/