San Francisco shopping

East Bay: Alden Lane Nursery

Visit the full service retail garden center, which offers organic vegetables to the largest selection of trees in the Bay Area.
• Flowers & plants / Garden
• Open daily
• 981 Alden Lane, Livermore, CA; 925/ 447-0280
• www.aldenlane.com

Sunset loves Alden Lane Nursery! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Blooming annual flower in four inch pot with purchase. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Peninsula: Alena Jean Flower Shop & Nursery

Housed in a refurbished 135–year–old barn, Alena Jean Flower Shop & Nursery is a funky alternative to the big–box garden stores. Sure, it carries the usual suspects like sweet peas and pint–size perennials—all well cared for. But the shop also has the unusual, like a garden gnome with a secret compartment for hiding house keys. A gazebo hidden behind the nursery has a mini train chugging around it.
• Garden / Flowers & plants
• Closed Mondays
• 340 Purissima St., Half Moon Bay, CA; 650/726-3662
• www.alenasdesigns.com

Sunset loves Alena Jean Flower Shop & Nursery! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% discount on everything. Offer valid through April 15, 2012.

Chinatown: Asian Image

East meets West at the two-story Asian Image, where high-style items like embroidered silk cell-phone holders, laptop bags, and vibrant bedding come at reasonable prices.
• Home décor
• Open daily
• 800 Grant Ave., San Francisco, CA; 415/398-2602

Various: Au Coeur des Chocolats

Their airbrushed truffles are (almost) too pretty to eat.
• Specialty foods
• Available at several Bay Area locations
• www.heartofchocolates.com

Sunset loves Au Coeur des Chocolats! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: A free bag of caramelized chocolate covered almonds on orders of more than $75 (not including shipping). Offer valid through April 15, 2012.

San Francisco: The Beholder

The Beholder is an online marketplace for artists. This web shop offers prints and originals in a variety of mediums—from photography to painting to drawing. Artwork is priced from $30 to $2000.
• Arts & crafts
• Available online
• www.beholder-art.com

Sunset loves The Beholder! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Receive a free limited edition print with a purchase of $200 or more. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

East Bay: Calaveras Nursery

Take the time to explore Sunol’s vast and exceptional nurseries, which sell trees in a size often available only to pros. Have a bare spot in your yard that’s making you nuts? Calaveras Nursery sells 8-footers in 15-gallon cans that’ll take the waiting part out of gardening.
• Flowers & plants / Garden
• 1000 Calaveras Rd., Sunol, CA; 925/862-2286
• www.calaverasnurseries.com

Sunset loves Calaveras Nursery! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: purchase $25 or more and receive a FREE 1 gallon plant of your choice. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Richmond: Cherish

Ogle ream after ream of pretty patterned paper, then ask the pros there to wrap your gifts (from $2)—yes, even the stuff you bought down the block. Card- and ornament-making classes (from $15) in the back studio too.
• Arts & crafts
• Open daily
• 115 Clement St., San Francisco, CA; 415/379-7300
• www.shopcherish.com

Marin County: Christopher Home

Christopher Downs, owner of Christopher Home in Tiburon, gives tips on how to create a beach house look at home. He suggested hanging buoys, yacht pennants, and old lighthouse lanterns to telegraph nautical charm. Try West Marine boating supplies as a source for accents. Choose rough-hewn materials, like jute for a rug. And use bits of sailcloth or canvas for throw pillows or upholstery; they not only round out the look, but lend a relaxed, lived-in feel. Give walls a slick of bright white paint, which "instantly brings a light, summery feeling to any interior," Christopher says. Limit your palette to three or four colors—a neutral base with graphic hues "like navy or red, to make things pop," he says.
•Home décor
•88 Main St., Tiburon, CA; 415/435-0111

Sunset loves Christopher Home! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off store purchase. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

SoMa: City Beer Store

Owners Craig and Beth Wathen are usually working the bar at their encyclopedic store. They can point you toward bottles of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout, one of the nation’s first and best bourbon-barrel beers. Brewed in Chicago and black as tar, it tastes of cinnamon and raisin, toasted coconut, and sweet pipe smoke. At the in-store bar, the on-tap list changes weekly, but you might find Firestone Walker’s Abacus, a bourbon-barreled barley wine laced with silky fig, brandy, and butter. Order some cheeses and chocolates and you’ve got yourself a meal.
• Specialty foods
• Open daily
• 1168 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA; 415/503-1033
• www.citybeerstore.com

Potrero Hill: Collage Gallery

Think of Collage as an artful way to recycle. Household flotsam—eggshells, leftover Halloween glitter, an Anthropologie catalog—becomes treasure. Plus, Collage can dress up an ugly piece of furniture. The five-hour collage class that Delisa Sage, owner of San Francisco’s Collage Gallery, hosts in her Marin home gets you started. Not only do you walk away with wall art, but the process of fitting bits of this and that together is also calming and rewarding.
• Arts & crafts / Jewelry / Gifts
• Open daily, class times vary
• Classes from $125, including materials; registration required
• 1345 18th St., San Francisco, CA; 415/282-4401
• www.collage-gallery.com

Sunset loves Collage Gallery! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off on all items marked with a "D" non-sale items only. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

East Bay: The Dry Garden Nursery

Shop for hard-to-find Begonia boliviensis, mathiasella, bupleuroides and Marlborough rock daisies at the Dry Garden Nursery in Oakland.
• Garden/ Flowers & plants
• Open daily
• 6556 Shattuck Ave, Oakland, CA; 510/547-3564
• www.thedrygardennursery.com

Sunset loves The Dry Garden Nursery! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 15% off. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Financial District: Eden & Eden

Much of what you see in Eden & Eden, a wonderfully eclectic Financial District boutique, is sourced by owner Rachel Eden from buzzworthy designers and traditional craftspeople in Eden’s native England. Check out the teapots with wool cozies hand-knit locally; a porcelain menagerie cast in Poland from the original midcentury molds; sweet knit dresses and scarves; and dramatic jewelry with lacy wings and voluminous Elizabethan ruffs among the motifs.
• Home décor / Women’s clothing
• Open daily
• 560 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA; 415/983-0490
• www.edenandeden.com

Sunset loves Eden & Eden! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 20% off everything in the shop. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Richmond: Fleurt

Pick up orchids potted with branches and mosses, lots and lots of succulents, and quirky garden decor. This elegant, sweet-smelling shop excels at custom-designed, super-seasonal bouquets.
• Flowers & plants
• Closed Sundays
• 15 Clement St., San Francisco, CA; 415/751-2747
• www.fleurtstyle.com

Tenderloin: Floréal L’Atelier

For pretty, fresh flowers and finds from French flea markets, stop by Floréal L’Atelier. The giant papier-mâché mushrooms by artist Kemit Amenophis are straight out of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
• Flowers & plants / Home décor
• Open Mon-Fri and by appointment
• 533 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA; 415/885-4261
• www.florealsf.com

Sunset loves Floréal L’Atelier! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 15% discount. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Haight-Ashbury: Giant Robot

The Upper Haight shop Giant Robot San Francisco shows prints and originals from pop culture-inspired artists—almost all of it as affordable as it is fun.
• Arts & crafts
• Open daily
• 618 Shrader St., San Francisco, CA; 415/876-4773
• www.gr-sf.com

Richmond: Green Apple Books

Crammed with all manner of titles, indie-to-the-core Green Apple reminds you what bookstores used to be. Buy, sell, or trade your books, music, and DVDs here.
• Books
• Open daily
• 506 Clement St., San Francisco, CA; 415/387-2272
• www.greenapplebooks.com

Sunset loves Green Apple Books! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Spend $25 or more & receive a free"so many books so little time" canvas book bag (6.95 value). Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Various locations: Greenlight Concepts

Built from reclaimed stoplight lenses, this San Francisco shop’s pendant lamp could star as your next kitchen light fixture. Available in—you guessed it—red, yellow, and green (looks blue until lit), plus clear. Lamps from $90.
• Home décor
• Available online or from various San Francisco vendors
• 415/287-3491
• www.greenlightconcepts.com

Sunset loves Greenlight Concepts! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 15% cash back on pendant purchases for Chase Sapphire members. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Peninsula: Half Moon Bay Wine & Cheese Company

The Half Moon Bay Wine & Cheese Company carries a variety of boutique bottles, including more than 120 California and Oregon Pinot Noirs. Feeling spendy? Ask to see the big-sticker Bordeaux in the "jewel bin." Also on hand: cheeses, olive oils, and picnic baskets.
• Specialty foods
• 421 Main St., Half Moon Bay, CA; 650/726-1520
• www.hmbwineandcheese.com

Sunset loves Half Moon Bay Wine & Cheese Company! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 15% off one of our Cheese Plates while you are tasting wines. Offer valid through April 15, 2012.

East Bay: Hillcrest Ranch Olive Oil (at Sunol Jazz Cafe)

At Sunol Jazz Cafe, pick up a bottle of grassy, crisp Hillcrest Ranch Olive Oil, made in hills neighboring the nearby ones you can hike.
• Specialty foods
• Sunol Jazz Cafe: 11984 Main St.; 925/862-2000
• www.hillcrestrancholiveoil.com

Sunset loves Hillcrest Ranch Olive Oil! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% discount on olive oil case purchased at the Sunol Jazz Cafe on Main Street, Sunol, CA. Offer valid through April 15, 2012.

East Bay: INNA jam

This Berkeley company’s lush, intensely flavored jam spread on buttermilk biscuits will beam you back to summer.
• Specialty foods
• From $12
• Available online or local pick-up in the Berkley area
• www.innajam.com

Sunset loves INNA jam! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Use coupon code "sunset" on innajam.com & receive 10% off the INNA jam annual subscription (12 jars of jam delivered in 3 seasonal collections: 4 jars each spring, summer, & fall. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Peninsula: Janakos & Company

Family-owned Janakos & Company in Burlingame is full of midcentury pieces like white-leather-and-chrome chairs straight from Charlie’s Angels, a velvet 1930s sofa designed by Timothy Pflueger for the Alameda Theater, and a 1970s Lucite globe chandelier by Verner Panton. "This futuristic chandelier would contrast really well above a rustic, picnic-style dining table," design pro Chloe Warner says. She loves the variety here, from one-of-a-kind Spanish revival antiques to paisley-patterned highball glasses. Don’t miss Janakos’s new 1,200-square-foot outlet warehouse next door.
• Antiques
• Open daily
• 1001 California Dr., Burlingame, CA; 650/344-4050
• www.burlingameantiques.com

Sunset loves Janakos & Company! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off all merchandise. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

East Bay: Juniper Ridge (at Berkeley Horticultural Nursery)

Open since 1922, this full-service nursery features all manner of plants, including their popular organic edibles. Along with their broad variety of garden essentials, the shop also carries accessories like Juniper Ridge’s foresty-scented incense (pictured; $8/pack of 40), crafted from wild-harvested—and clean-burning—leaves, wood, and resin.
• Garden / Flowers & plants
• Closed Thursdays
• 1310 McGee Ave., Berkeley, CA; 510/ 526 4704
• www.juniperridge.com

Sunset loves Juniper Ridge! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Free bar of soap with a $25 purchase. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Tenderloin: Leftovers

"You may end up digging around a bit, but it’s worth it," design pro Chloe Warner says of the etched crystal goblets, apothecary jars with cork lids, and ladylike blue-and-white porcelain plates at the newest Leftovers outpost (the flagship is nearby: closed Tuesdays; 1259 Polk St., San Francisco, CA; 415/404-6540). "I’ve found cheeky salt and pepper shakers, coral napkin rings, and graphic dessert plates."
• Antiques
• Closed Tuesdays
• 1243 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA; 415/409-0088
• www.leftoverstores.com

Sunset loves Leftovers! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off all merchandise. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Sunset: Mollusk Surf Shop

At this gallery and store dedicated to all things wave-related, you can shop for a longboard, get a limited-edition T-shirt, or attend an art opening. Ability to hang 10 not required.
• Men’s clothing / Women’s clothing / Arts & crafts / Sporting goods
• Open daily
• 4500 Irving St., San Francisco, CA; 415/564-6300
• www.mollusksurfshop.com

Marin County: Nicasio Valley Cheese Company

One of our favorite Northern California cheesemakers. Stop at their creamery’s store, not far from Point Reyes, to pick up organic cow’s milk selections like the amazingly fresh and versatile Foggy Morning.
• Specialty foods
• Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
• 5300 Nicasio Valley Road, Nicasio, CA; 415/662-6200
• www.nicasiocheese.com

Sunset loves Nicasio Valley Cheese Company! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off of any Nicasio Valley Cheeses purchased at our Creamery store using the Chase Sapphire credit card. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Marin County: Out-N-In.com

This product line of R-Space Design is the only local Bay Area company that does digital image printing for outdoor products. From pillows to tablecloths, furniture to custom orders—each product is produced and manufactured in Sausalito, California.
• Home décor
• Available online
• www.out-n-in.com

Sunset loves Out-N-In.com! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 25% off any online or custom product. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Richmond: Park Life

Despite the spare, airy atmosphere, it’s easy to get lost in this gallery/curiosity shop. Browsing the shelves lined with Rubik’s Cube clocks and retro T-shirts. Looking at the contemporary exhibits by local and visiting artists. And standing around the center table, flipping through what has to be the city’s best collection of arty coffee-table books.
• Arts & crafts
• Open daily
• 220 Clement St. San Francisco, CA; 415/386-7275
• www.parklifestore.com

Sunset loves Park Life! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off purchase. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Marina: Past Perfect

"When I need an anchor piece for a room, like a mottled gold screen or an oversize bamboo-framed mirror, this is where I go," design pro Chloe Warner says of Past Perfect, a massive store in the Marina. Striped red-and-white Italian glass table lamps, oil paintings in gilded frames, shiny brass trunks with nailhead trim, black-and-white silhouette prints, and lime green sectional sofas pop against the store’s all-white walls. For jewelry, mirrored coffee tables, and Murano glass decanters, visit Past Perfect’s same-name sister store (2224 Union St., S.F.; 415/929-7651), four blocks away.
• Antiques
• Open daily
• 2246 Lombard St., S.F.; 415/929-2288

Glen Park: Perch

This boutique specializes in urban gifts and home accents. The shop’s ever-changing stock reflects owners Zoel Fages and Sue Pulhorn’s love of all things modern and vintage, local and international.
• Home décor/ Lifestyle
• Open daily
• 654 Chenery St., San Francisco, CA ; 415/586-9000
• www.perchsf.com

Sunset loves Perch! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 20% off coupon for their next purchase. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Richmond: Period George

Be careful weaving through the piles of delicate antique plates stacked inside, where you’ll find a mostly used (but carefully curated) stash of English bone china, dessert wineglasses, and teacups for every time of day. Puts anything your grandma might leave you to shame.
• Antiques
• Open daily
• 7 Clement St., San Francisco, CA; 415/752-1900
• www.periodgeorge.net

The Castro: Rare Device

"Rare Device is the ultimate hipster design store," local designer Meg Mateo Ilasco says of the bright, airy space on Upper Market. "It’s a great place to find unique gifts." On display in Rena Tom and Lisa Congdon’s shop are Oaklander Natalie Davis’s wooden apple trinket boxes, hand-built ceramic candy and tea bowls from Lithuania’s Aida Dirse, and San Franciscan Jo Boyer’s tactile barnacle tiles. An adjoining gallery space hosts monthly exhibits.
• Home décor
• Closed Mondays
• 1845 Market St., San Francisco, CA; 415/863-3969
• www.raredevice.net

Sunset loves Rare Device! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off (does not apply to original gallery artwork). Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Potrero Hill: Redmond Aldrich Design

Chloe Warner, founder of Redmond Aldrich Design, loves to mix and match styles, in the process giving new life to vintage pieces. Scoring a good deal doesn’t hurt either. "When I encounter a room that looks too 'done,' I go to a consignment shop to find something to throw the mix off a bit," she says. To avoid the straight-out-of-a-catalog look, Chloe hits up vintage shops for just the right finishing touch.
• Home décor / Interior design
• Open daily
• 550 15th St., Suite #20 San Francisco, CA; 415/ 970-2464
• www.redmondaldrich.com

Sunset loves Redmond Aldrich Design! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% discount on any design kit. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

East Bay: Retro @ Home

In Emeryville, interior designer Val Perez-Ibardolasa presides over Retro @ Home’s collection of milk-glass art, kitschy tiki mugs, and Hawaiian dolls, as well as large pieces like a triptych by Oakland artist Michael Maes, a wood credenza by Peter Hvidt, and re-covered Danish modern sofas. "The upholstered stuff is straight out of Mad Men," says design pro Chloe Warner. "And I love how the small pieces are arranged by color on drop-dead gorgeous étagères."
• Antiques
• Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdasy
• 3811 San Pablo Ave., Emeryville, CA
• 510/658-6600
• www.retroathome.com

Marin County: Roots Collaborative

A small but mighty shop showing off more than 70 local artists, Roots Collaborative stocks only products made within a 50-mile radius. "Farmers’ markets define 'local’ with a 100-mile radius," says John Vignale, who co-owns the shop with his wife, Catherine. "But with so many craftsmen nearby, we wanted to do better."
• Specialty foods
• Open daily
• 84 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA; 415/388-7668.
• rootscollaborative.wordpress.com

Sunset loves Roots Collaborative! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% discount. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Richmond: Seedstore

Hiding among the Inner Richmond’s nail salons, pho spots, and tween-packed bubble-tea bars are classic indie shops like Seedstore.
• Women’s clothing / Men’s clothing
• Open daily
• 212 Clement St., San Francisco, CA; 415/386-1600
• www.seedstoresf.com

Sunset loves Seedstore! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 15% off (sale items excluded). Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

SoMa: Smith & Fong Co.

Rather than buying a desk at an office–supply store, get creative and you’re your own. You can find a long countertop, made of Plyboo Neopolitan Strand bamboo plywood at Smith & Fong Co.; it makes a good drafting table. Shelves above and below the counter hold his books.
• Design / Home décor
• 475 6th St., San Francisco, CA; 415/896-0577
• www.plyboo.com

Sunset loves Smith & Fong Co.! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 12% off retail price. Offer valid through April 15, 2012.

Peninsula: Sweet Shop

Stacy Sullivan, an HR director at Google, has given her hometown of Los Altos a new gathering place. The Sweet Shop is a cheery little nook on a residential street, where bikes pile up after school as kids scoop bulk candy out of glass jars. Locals snap up handmade Clairesquares, an $8 trio of Irish shortbread cookies layered with caramel and chocolate. The shop also serves lunch ($).
• Specialty foods
• Closed Mondays
• 994 Los Altos Ave., Los Altos, CA; 650/ 941-7467
• www.sweetshoplosaltos.com

Sunset loves Sweet Shop! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Buy one yogurt get one free. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Hayes Valley: Tazi Designs Inc.

Stop here for Moroccan furnishings and home accents like leather poufs, hand-crafted mosaic fountains, Berber rugs, and more.
• Home décor
• Closed Sundays and Mondays
• 333 Linden St., San Francisco, CA; 415/ 503-0013
• www.tazidesigns.com

Sunset loves Tazi Designs Inc.! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: 10% off lighting fixtures & 20% off tin Moroccan lanterns & pendants (not valid with other promotional offers). Offer valid through March 15, 2012.

Embarcadero: TCHO

San Francisco’s Tcho makes a 67% cacao Citrus bar that tastes lemony bright ($6 for 58 grams).
• Specialty foods
• Open daily; free tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Pier 17, San Francisco, CA; 415/ 981-0189
• www.tcho.com

Sunset loves TCHO! Special discount for Chase Sapphire credit card holders when you mention this offer: Free Tcho drinking chocolate shot with visit. Offer valid through March 15, 2012.