Lostin BBA
Life can be expensive in the Bay Area. This is my Bay Area list of outlets, thrift shops, second-hand and community stores in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco.
In this japanese store, everything is at $1.50 ! You can buy bento boxes, dishes, yoga mats, kitchen knickknacks, schools supplies, home accessories, beauty products, snacks and a lot more unnecessary and pointless products, in cheap and environmentally unfriendly plastic. But they are so kawaïï (means "cute" in japanese), with pink colors and hello kitty decoration, that it is difficult to resist the girly temptation !
Where ?
2369 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley
Open daily, 11am to 8pm (9pm on Fridays and Saturdays ; 7pm on Sundays)
also the biggest store is in Japantown, San Francisco : 22 Peace Plz, San Francisco
The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse is an incredible place, and a funny chaos of patterned papers, quirky items and every kind of used craft materials. A true haven for art teachers, DIY lovers and moms searching supplies for their kids science/craft projects. No price tags here, you fill your cart and you discover at the cashier what it’ll cost you. Be reassured, it is rarely expensive.
The depot sells in galore absolutely everything, in more or less good condition : glasses, ribbons, wool balls, glass beads, stickers, trophies, cardboard boxes and tubes, used DVDs and books, crockery, golf balls, old photographs, and the list goes on and on…
Where ?
4695 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland (Temescal)
Open daily, 11am to 6pm
Website : creativereuse.org
Crossroads Trading Co is a well know company that sell and buy used clothes and fashion accessories, for men and women. It owns several second-hand clothes stores in the bay.
I find myself incapable of leaving one of these shops without a happy find. They have an amazing choice of brands (J.Crew, Banana Republic, Sol Angeles, Project Social T), clothes and accessories (hats, shoes, belts, bags), for very small prices (starting at $5 !).
Where ?
5901 College avenue, Oakland (Rockridge)
2338 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley (Downtown)
Open daily, 11am to 8pm (7pm on Sundays)
and 4 others stores in SF :
1519 Haight Street, San Francisco (Haight-Ashbury)
2123 Market Street, San Francisco (Mission)
1901 Fillmore Street, San Francisco (Fillmore)
630 Irving Street, San Francisco (Inner Sunset)
Website : crossroadstrading.com
At Down at Lulu's not only can you purchase good quality woman vintage and used clothes, but you can also have your hair cut ! A colorful little thrift shop, with a quirky attitude to boost.
Where ?
6603, Telegraph Ave, Oakland
Open daily, 11am to 7pm
Website : downatlulus.com
Pretty Penny, like Down at Lulu's, is a thrift store that sell vintage clothing and retro quality accessories. It appears that they also organize artistic events and fashions show from time to time. It is conveniently located near the Rockridge BART station.
Where ?
5488 College Avenue, Oakland (Rockridge)
Open daily, 11am to 7pm
Website : prettypennyclothing.com
North Face is an activewear and outdoor clothing brand, that I really appreciate. It has high quality materials and large choice of sportswear and outdoor gear, but it is expensive.
In this North Face outlet store, you'll find a limited selection of products and sizes for a cheaper price (it is generally old collections), with discounts ranging from 30% to 60%. An excellent place to find your own hiking style.
Where ?
1238 Fifth Street Berkeley CA 94710
Open daily, 10am to 7pm (5pm on Sundays)
Website : thenorthface.com
Amoeba Music in an independent music chain with several stores in California. Its first-ever store was created in Berkeley in 1990 and ever since, Amoeba has achieved a proven and world-wide reputation for music.
A true music temple, you'll find thousands of CDs, LPs, records and DVDs, both new and used, organized in alphabetical order or labelled by types of music (Grunge / Metal / Indie / Pop...).
Whole aisles are made of half-priced records and $2 CDs. Be prepared to get lost there for hours...
Where ?
2455 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley
Open daily, 10am to 6pm (till 10.30pm Fridays and Saturdays, 9pm on Sundays)
also in San Francisco :
1855 Haight Street, San Francisco
=> Amoeba's largest store : 2200 m2 of music in a former bowling alley in the heart of psychedelic Haight-Ashbury district. Worth a visit.
Website : amoeba.com
The name told it all. Located in Downtown Berkeley, near the BART station, this bookstore sells half-priced and used comics, novels, cooking books, catalogs and others books.
Half-Price Books is my favorite place to buy travel guidebooks or fiction novels at very low prices. I just love to browse interesting books for hours, and till very late at night.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the late opening policies of the bookstores in Berkeley. It simply does not exist in France, and this may explain why here bookstores make business and still have customers...
Where ?
2036 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley (Downtown)
Open daily 9am to 11pm (10am to 10pm on Sundays)
Website : hpb.com
Pegasus Books is a bookstore chain that sells new and used books , and buy second-hand merchandises (books, DVDs, CDs). A great place to find the latest trendy novel and/or a used cooking guidebook. If you are a cat lover like me, go to the pet-friendly Pegasus store in Berkeley. You may sight a cute kitten sleeping in a chair or walking down the aisles.
Where ?
2349 Shattuck avenue, Berkeley (Downtown) - with cats ! :-)
5560 College Avenue, Oakland (Rockridge) - no cats :-(
Open daily, 9am to 10pm (till 10.45pm on Fridays and Saturdays ; 10am to 10pm on Sundays)
Website : pegasusbookstore.com
Crate&Barrel is a chain of retail stores specialized in housewares, indoor and outdoor decoration. It is the equivalent of the french chain “Habitat“, and it offers superior quality than Ikea products. Berkeley’s Crate&Barrel outlet sells destocked and discount goods, and it gets new shipment regularly. We bought there our wooden TV stand for half the price, a real deal !
Where ?
1785 Fourth Street, Berkeley CA 94710
Open daily, 10am to 7pm
Website : crateandbarrel.com
This gigantic family store is located in San Francisco at the far end of Valencia Street. Supplied with the Salvation Army stocks and the generous donations of the city inhabitants, this large store sells low-priced goods : clothing, cookery, furnitures, home decor, books, hi-fi and tv equipments, knickknacks … If you look carefully, you may make a great find. I have discovered there an old Lonely Planet guide on the USSR, dating back before the fall of the soviet system !
Where ?
1156 Valencia Street, San Francisco (Mission)
Open daily, 9.30am to 8pm
Website : salvationarmyusa.org
Difficult to miss this store the size of a block with its pink storefront. You can donate, sell or buy second-hand clothing and all types of goods to this place. You’ll also spend hours browsing through the aisles of the enormous warehouse, looking for clothes, shoes, bags, electronics, LPs, CDs, books, furniture and other trinkets at very low prices. My last sweet deal was a $1.50 gaiam yoga block.
Where ?
623 Valencia Street, San Francisco (Mission)
Open daily, 10am to 6.30pm
Website : communitythriftsf.org
Painted Bird is a vintage and second-hand clothes shop on Valencia Street. Very tiny, the choice of clothes, shoes and hats is limited. However, the clothes are of quite good quality resulting in slightly higher prices than other second-hand stores.
I frequently saw there hipster customers or bohos with blue hair looking for the perfect accessory to complete their look…
Where ?
1360 Valencia Street, San Francisco (Mission)
Open daily, 12am-8pm
Website : shoppainted.com
At the heart of the “crazy hippy” neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury, Wasteland is a THE thrift shop. Wasteland define itself as “the original, world-famous outfitter of style renegades, rock royalty and anyone whose fashion sense both creates and defies trends”. Yep, that’s it !
It is nonetheless worth your while to discover Wasteland, the place of pilgrimage for Haight’s peculiar crowd.
Where ?
1660 Haight Street, San Francisco (Haight-Ashbury)
Open daily, 11am to 8pm (12am to 9pm on Sundays)
Website : shopwasteland.com
Living in the Bay Area can be quite expensive. Fortunately, there is a lot of places where you can buy at a bargain. Here is my list of best addresses in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco to make good deals.
