Retail

This homeware brand, founded by Edith and Brian Heath in 1948, was bought by Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey in 2003. Following intelligent expansion, they transferred their tile production to the Mission, where they also opened a retail space. Besides a homeware collection, the site also has a kitchen for demonstrations, work stations for custom orders, a newsstand and a coffee cart. 

If you have any semblance of a green thumb, you should visit Flora Grubb Gardens. Aptly named co-founder and landscape designer Flora Grubb has created an impressive gardening centre where the dry Californian climate informs a stock of drought-resistant greenery, styled in imaginative arrangements. If you want to take home more than ideas, Californian-made pots, gardening tools and seeds are available. 

Ami Arad stepped back from the world of software to open his ideal one-stop shop, where he could find a tailored suit, the best bourbon and accessories for his next fly-fishing trip. With its location in an old bank, it may sound like an unusual mix but the execution is sharp. Luxury brands Alfred Dunhill, St James of London and Agave Denim are staples, as are the finest imported Japanese whiskies, and Italian pewter and crystal barware. Arad has also opened a wine cellar in the former vault and a private club on the top floor. 

This petite shopfront in the same industrial block as Heath Ceramics is the client-facing side of James Tucker’s rather traditional printing press. It’s stocked with in-house prints, as well as other San Francisco products such as watercolours by Case for Making and locally made greetings cards. All of the brand’s print work takes place just behind the shop using Tucker’s suite of time-honoured machines.  

Much like its home neighbourhood of Haight-Ashbury, Amoeba wears its anti-establishment disposition on its sleeve. Still, from obscure releases to the top 40, its focus is on stocking the broadest possible range of music. It started out in 1990 in a small shop in Berkeley before opening a second space across the bay in 1997 and a third site in Los Angeles in 2001. All this time, this eminent name in discography has remained fiercely independent and continues to attract impressive names to perform in store.