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Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
Your fortune may be too hot to handle inside this steamy, dimly lit shop, where fortune cookies are stamped out on old-fashioned presses and hand-shaped before they cool. As a nod to the alley's salacious past, the store sells 'French Adult' cookies with racy fortunes - or you can just add '… in bed' to any of the usual fortunes.
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Good Vibrations
'Wait, I'm supposed to put that where ?' The understanding salespeople in this worker-owned cooperative are used to giving rather, um, explicit instructions, so don't hesitate to ask. (Margaret Cho is on their board, so you know they're not shy.) Check out the antique vibrators on the back wall, and imagine getting up close and personal with the one resembling a Mars landing craft. Thank goodness for modern technology, eh?
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Goodwill 'As Is' Shop
'Ooh, that wedding dress would look fierce with some blood on it!' Getting to the bottom of the bin before the regular crowds of emerging designers, drag queens and the rest of San Francisco's fashion rebels isn't always easy, but every item costs around US$3 max, and the commentary is priceless.
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Green Apple Books
Days can be spent at Green Apple, where blissed-out booklovers browse three floors of new releases, used titles and staff picks more reliable than New York Times reviews. Local favorites are easy to spot in the local interest section - look for the local author tag. You can sell your books here, but be prepared for rejection - they can afford to be picky. Don't miss the annex two doors down.
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Gump's
About 150 years before Pier One reduced Asian import chic to wicker papasan chairs, Gump's was quietly outfitting Pacific Heights meditation rooms and Nob Hill Japanese gardens with authentic decor touches. Since 1861, San Franciscan Solomon Gump's posh import and export gift emporium has been the purveyor of a range of high-end-to-overpriced, tasteful-to-bland antiques, decorative arts and Asian home furnishings, all lovingly presented in lavish window displays.
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H&M
What IKEA is to home furnishing, H&M is to fashion: suspiciously affordable, often hip, perpetually crowded and nothing is built to last. With limited-edition runs and special collections by designers like Roberto Cavalli and Stella McCartney (and lesser ones like, oof, Madonna) you won't have to worry that your closet looks exactly like everyone else's (unless you bought it at IKEA). There are several outlets in town, but the one on Powell is the biggest and best by far.
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Heidisays Shoes
To brave the sidewalk runways of SF, you'll need something more comfortably stylish than stilettos. Here you have it: cushy Michael Kors platform wedges, colorful Missoni flats with the signature woozy stripes, and sweet stub-toed Hype moccasins. They don't wait for a season to finish before putting the shoes on sale, because HeidiSays so - and who are we to disagree?
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Her
When it's time to get girly, head to Her. They've got universally flattering Ella Moss dresses and the coveted J Brand denims worn by Angelina - you can also get the star treatment with a personal shopper dispatched to your home. In February and March, bring in clean formal wear for a local nonprofit outfitting high school girls for prom, and get 25% off your purchase. Otherwise, monitor the smoking-hot sales rack for deals up to 70% off.
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Honey Ryder
Looking hot isn't all about showing skin in perpetually chilly SF, but about the sultry shapes and easygoing glamour you'll find at Honey Ryder. Artfully draped jersey tops reveal dangerous curves, and a killer rack of dresses in fun, strategic prints will show off your sexy sass. They don't mess around with pointless 10% off sales, but slash right down 50-70%.
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Human Rights Campaign Action Center & Store
Make more than a fashion statement in a signature HRC tee designed by Marc Jacobs, Heatherette, Calvin Klein and other fashion-forward-thinkers, with proceeds supporting civil rights initiatives. Test your wits in a game of CIVIO, the civil rights game - but if you're playing it strip-poker-style, be sure you're wearing your Equality boxer briefs.
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Hyde & Seek Antiques
Like a visit to the home of a long-lost eccentric aunt, this tiny storefront is full of surprises: a briefcase that opens to reveal a full Tartan plaid bar, a Danish-design silver cala lily, a Native basket more tightly wound than your boss. All the heirlooms you might want are here for the taking at reasonable prices.
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Ichiban Kan
Anything you could possibly want from Japan for around US$2 : lacquered chopstick sets, chocolate-covered Pocky (with and without crushed almonds), hair wax for killer spikes, Pocari Sweat soda, acupressure foot rollers and the ultimate in gay gag gifts, the handy 'Closet Case.' For presents, don't miss the last aisle with the sweetly sinister gift bags printed with newspaper clippings of refugee crises.
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Isda & Co
Sharp SF urban professionals aren't born into casual Friday elegance - they probably clawed their way up through the racks at this local designer outlet. Colors are mostly variations on a charcoal gray theme, but the lean silhouette is shamelessly flattering.
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Isotope
Comics are a religion in San Francisco, and Isotope is where locals find superhero heaven under toilet seats signed by famous cartoonists. Explore underground graphic novelists beyond the usual Daniel Clowes and Joe Sacco and take your haul upstairs, where you can loiter in the lounge with local cartoonists.
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Japonesque
Wabi-sabi is not something you smear on sushi, but the fine appreciation for organic forms and materials you can experience first-hand at Japonesque. Owner Koichi Hara stocks antique Japanese bamboo baskets and raku ceramics alongside Ruth Rhoten's molten silver vases, and stone monoliths by Izumi Masatoshi that seem eroded rather than sculpted into shape. To complete the experience, each purchase is carefully wrapped with a flourish.
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Jeremy's
No South Park excursion would be complete without swapping stories about your all-time-best bargains from Jeremy's. Window displays and department store customer returns translate to jaw-dropping bargains on major designers for men and women. Men's stuff gets picked over faster, but you could score a slimming Prada suit at half off if you work fast. Try before you buy - returns are possible for store credit, but only within 7 days.
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Jonathan Adler
Bottle-green vases with goose bumps and throw pillows listing the original sins in needlepoint may seem like holdovers from a Big Sur bachelor pad c 1974, but they're the latest snappy interior inspirations from Jonathan Adler. Forgive him that painful 'See you later, decorator,' reality show tagline from Top Design, because he's got a persuasive personal motto: 'Minimalism is a bummer.'
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Katsura Garden
When you're in the mood for a little something special, try a bonsai. Katsura Garden can set you up with a miniature juniper that looks like it grew on a windswept molehill, or a stunted maple that will shed all of five glorious red leaves this autumn. Hawaiian flowers are another specialty, including cuttings for fragrant plumeria and shocking red awapuhi (ginger).
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Kayo Books
Juvenile delinquents will find an entire section dedicated to their life stories here, where vintage pulp fiction, true crime and erotica titles ending in exclamation points (including the succinct Wench!) make Quentin Tarantino look like a chump and John Waters publicly enthuse about this place on NPR. You might find a first edition Dashiell Hammet gumshoe caper, or a woefully underappreciated classic like Women's Medical Problems in the Bizarre Nonfiction section.
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Kenneth Wingard
Upgrade from ho-hum IKEA with these mod home wares that are positively scrumptious and priced for mass consumption - but kindly refrain from licking Wingard's glossy apple-green vases, chocolate leather desk sets and tangerine oval wall mobiles.
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Kinokuniya Books & Stationery
Like warriors in a showdown, the bookstore and stationary divisions of Kinokuniya compete for your attention: do you choose the stunning photography books, manga comics and way-forward fashion mags at the bookstore, or head across the hall to the stationary department for supersmooth Sakura gel pens, notebooks that declare they're meant 'for bringing good feeling,' and cherry-blossom-printed washi paper? Either way, you win.
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Laku
Hair clips with cherry blossoms in kimono fabric, baby hoodies in reclaimed cashmere with bunnies in built-in pockets, and velvet rosebud slippers you'll wish came in your size - hey, you're in luck. Owner and designer Yaeko Yamashita brings whimsy to everything she makes, including the brown paper packages tied with striped string.
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Lavish
Baby shower gifts are a done deal here with teensy rockabilly cowboy shirts, eensy graphic-print wrap dresses and weensy striped baby legwarmers. Splurge on your favorite mom while you're at it with flirty cap-sleeved tees and screen-printed hipster hoodies that look nothing like standard-issue momswear.
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Lemon Twist
Refresh your wardrobe with a little Lemon Twist, a relentlessly inventive local designer who doesn't wait for the seasons to change, but adds a new outfit every 42 days. They'll whip up any design you like in the fabric of your choice, tailored to fit - check out the swatches and rolls behind the counter. Don't miss Lemon Drop either, the new line for babies in polka dots and bold stripes.
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Limn
Not someplace you're likely to pick up a memento - unless a designer sofa is your idea of a souvenir - but a great place to get ideas from sample room setups with 200 top brands to bring that slick SoMa loft look home. Head down the gravel path to the art gallery and B&B Italia showroom, and check upstairs for killer kitchens and occasional floor samples in the low five-digit range.
