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Shopping

If spending money is your "thing", there is no shortage of opportunities around Stanford.

Palo Alto Area

Stanford Shopping Center

Stanford Shopping Center offers one of the premier shopping and dining experience in the San Francisco Bay Area and is one of a few open-air malls across the country. Originally developed by Stanford University in 1956, today it is one of the most successful regional malls in the United States and offers over 140 stores and restaurants including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and Macy's. Stanford Shopping Center also features spectacular, award winning gardens and picturesque sculptures by California artists.

Stanford Shopping Center is about a 5-10 min drive from Stanford campus. On weekdays, the free Stanford Marguerite "A" shuttle stops at the station every 15 minutes and will take you directly to the Shopping Center.

Downtown Palo Alto

Palo Alto features a vibrant downtown shopping district, a quieter but popular shopping and restaurant district centered around California Avenue just south of the Stanford campus, and Town & Country Village, a specialty center on El Camino Real across from Stanford Stadium.

Visitors will find cafes and a wide variety of restaurants in all four shopping areas, as well as in neighboring downtown Menlo Park and downtown Mountain View. Major grocery and drug stores are conveniently located. Click on the map for locations.

Downtown Palo Alto is very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights, when restaurant reservations are advised and parking can be difficult. Many downtown retailers are open in the evenings to cater to the bar and restaurant crowd. California Avenue features a large number of good restaurants popular with local residents.

Both downtown Palo Alto and the California Avenue business districts hold popular Farmers' Markets. Downtown's market is on Saturday mornings between mid-May and mid-December from 8 a.m. to noon and is held in the parking lot behind the post office at Hamilton Avenue and Gilman Street. The market on California Avenue closes down several blocks and is held on Sunday mornings year-round between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

San Francisco Area

Westfield San Francisco Centre

845 Market St San Francisco, CA 94103-1923
Phone: (415) 495-5656

For San Francisco visitors and tourists, the opulent Westfield San Francisco Centre mall and its surrounding downtown San Francisco shopping environs (Union Square is just a few blocks away) epitomize the San Francisco shopping experience. It is home to some of the world's largest American chains, including a five-story Nordstrom's, a two-level Abercrombie & Fitch, numerous outlets found in malls across the country such as Victoria's Secret and Bebe, and including high-end retailers like Kenneth Cole and Club Monaco.

Union Square Shopping District

Post and Stockton, San Francisco CA

A lone Corinthian column surrounded by newly installed palm trees marks San Francisco's Mecca for shopaholics. Ringed by Macy's, Saks, Neiman Marcus and Levi's stores along with colorful flower stands and street performers. Surrounding streets feature superstores like Virgin Megastore, Gump's and Britex Fabrics along with boutiques for Coach, Bulgari, Cartier, Thomas Pink, Louis Vuitton, MaxMara, Emporio Armani, Diesel, Prada, Celine, Escada, Gucci, Guess, Hermes, Agnes B., Betsey Johnson and Wilkes Bashford. On the lighter side, DSW is a large discount shoe wharehouse steps from the most expensive shops on Union Square, and Imposter's sells classy faux jewelry.

Chestnut Street Shopping

Chestnut and Scott, San Francisco CA

Chestnut is a street lined with a mix of sophisticated shops, beauty outlets and restaurants alongside brand name retailers. While unique and offbeat in nature, Chestnut Street retains a distinctive neighborhood feel. Here shoppers and locals find incredible shoe boutiques like Rabat featuring trendy but functional footwear and specialty shops like Blue Bird, a gift shop carrying kitschy gifts like porcelain dolls and oversized potato heads. Well-known retailers, like Gap Body or the small, unique Chadwick's of London for cotton and lace lingerie, lend a mass appeal. Williams-Sonoma, a neighborhood fixture, has the best in cookware, utensils and cookbooks. For beauty care, Bare Essentials or the Body Shop will keep you looking great with the best in cosmetics and skincare. A lunch break on Chestnut means a choice of Cafe Marimba, an open, airy colorful Mexican restaurant or Cozmo's which prepares wood oven meats and seafood paired with California wines. On any day, Chestnut Street is bustling with shoppers, professionals meeting for coffee at Bechelli's or neighborhood Moms with strollers shopping at Books, Inc. The highlights of this cozy San Francisco neighborhood are a sophisticated ambience and streamlined energy conducive to shopping.

Chinatown Shopping

Bush St. and Grant Ave., San Francisco CA

Enter the Dragon Gates for access to another, redder and more-bustling world of shopping in San Francisco's Chinatown, tucked loudly away between North Beach and Union Square shopping. Ornate lampposts, pagoda roofs and a Bank of America that could just as well be in Shanghai highlight San Francisco's eclectic Chinatown. At every turn, candles burn and vivid silks grace the jam-packed window fronts, where import vendors sell nearly everything, including (but by no means limited to) carved Buddha, paper parasols and regal mahogany furniture, perfect for exotic gifts or indulgent tourist fodder. Apothecaries abound, selling delicate green teas, rose-scented black teas and a variety of other ailment-banishing brews by the ounce. For a sweet surprise, the fragrant Fortune Cookie Factory tucked away on Ross Alley is an exciting find. Chinese food is just as abundant: for some of the best in San Francisco, the inexpensive House of Nanking is just off Chinatown's main drag a few blocks west on Kearny (at Jackson).

Embarcadero Center Shopping

Sacramento to Clay, San Francisco CA

Embarcadero is an underutilized shopping expanse, usually crowded with professionals who work in the nearby towers or locals who know this San Francisco mall is light on foot traffic but heavy on great stores and accessory shops. Embarcadero is retail haven with brand names like Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne, Victoria Secret and Express Jeans. Even though the Embarcadero holds big names, this San Francisco shopping mall has unusual stores: the Discovery Channel Store for science lovers and the Giants Dugout for the sports enthusiast. The mall's spacious outdoor and indoor design lends itself to a more comfortable and easy shopping experience. The Embarcadero is contoured for the busy shopper with wide walkways and well-placed stairwells. During sunny days, the upstairs patio is perfect for patrons dining at Fuzio, a high-energy Italian restaurant or for coffee drinkers at Java City. The shopping mall is also home to the Embarcadero Theater, a movie house showing the brightest alternative and independent films by top directors.

Fillmore Street Shopping

Fillmore and California, San Francisco CA

On Fillmore Street, it's easy to feel pampered with several well-known beauty retailers and ritzy interior design boutiques fresh out of New York. Rachel Ashwell's Shabbychic furniture and bedroom design store is next to Betsy Johnson's runway shop on this luxe stretch of Fillmore that combines a busy wealthy Victorian neighborhood with a thriving San Francisco shopping center. Every shopping wish list is checked off here with select perfumeries, furniture designers like Zinc Details and specialty beauty outlets like Aveda. For shopping fuel, Fillmore street offers a Starbuck's as well as a locals-frequented Royal Grounds. A distinctly picturesque part of town, Fillmore Street maintains an air of charm and simplicity while still offering a luxurious and high-end lifestyle.

Haight Street Shopping

Haight and Ashbury, San Francisco CA

The stretch of shops, referred to by San Francisco locals as the Upper Haight, was the center of '60s psychedelia. Despite gentrification and the proliferation of stores like Ben & Jerry's and The Gap, it still retains its hippie counterculture credentials, and is dotted with Victorian houses, anarchist bookstores, piercing salons and funky clothing shops. Taking cues from New York and Los Angeles, as well as showcasing local Bay Area designers, the thoroughly modern Jaxx is a true urban outfitter, while just across the street at X-Generation, knock-offs of the originals go for much less. On Haight Street, one of the most eclectic and perennially busy San Francisco shopping stretches, San Francisco shoppers can find just about anything, from hardware to punk gear and fishnets to upscale vintage. With food and booze choices just as prolific (try Cha Cha Cha's for sangria and tapas or Kanzaman for a vanilla hookah and a beer), locals as well as out-of-towners spend time shopping (or just window gazing) on the Haight's incense-scented sidewalks. For music-philes, the bowling alley turned record store, Amoeba Records, is one the Haight's biggest draws.

Hayes Valley Shopping

Hayes and Gough, San Francisco CA

The Hayes Valley is a beautiful blend of art and commerce in a small San Francisco neighborhood brimming with art galleries, contemporary boutiques, interior design studios, outdoor cafes and wine bars. This stretch of San Francisco shopping, in view of the San Francisco Symphony and Opera House, is a great place to find out-of-the-ordinary items like, crafted ultra-modern club chairs, black ribboned dancing shoes and a funky tabletop in shocking blue. Hayes Valley does not tolerate chain names or major outfitters that would infringe on the artful and airy style of the neighborhood. Located at 345 Gough Street is Shoppe Unusual, where over 30 local artists' works are on display in one of Hayes Valley's largest and most colorful retail spaces. Some other unique shopping experiences include 560 Hayes Vintage Boutique, Buu, Gimme Shoes and Evelyn's Antique Chinese Furniture. Prices in Hayes Valley are manageable: San Francisco shoppers can splurge on a well-crafted French truffle bag while ordering lunch for two without tipping the financial scales.

North Beach Shopping

Grant and Columbus, San Francisco CA

North Beach, the unmistakable Italian district of San Francisco, boasts an Italian style and energy that permeates every boutique and restaurant. North Beach is the perfect shopping getaway because visitors will dine as the Romans do while finding unique European-inspired boutiques along Grant Avenue. Old Vogue carries a vintage wardrobe for men and women with the occasional funky piece. InSolent has year-round footwear and for an old Elvis LP then 101 Music is your destination, jammed with more than 10,000 musical items in CD, cassette and LP format. No shopping day is complete without Steps of Rome, where the waiters serve cappuccinos with a flirty wink and call the female patrons "Bellisima!"

Mission District Shopping

Valencia St. and 16th St., San Francisco CA

For tourists and San Francisco shoppers with more eclectic and far flung tastes, the Mission is the perfect place to cater to unconventional whims. The Mission has a colorful stretch of blocks with off beat boutiques and funky ethnic clothing and furniture stores. Living up to its catch-all attitude, the Mission offer most anything, but with a funky twist such as mini snakeskin boots for toddlers, white go go boots, velvet hunting hats, and vintage hipster fashion mixed in with discount fabric and bridal stores. However, mixed in with the eccentric is the Mission's predominantly Latino working class which operates authentic bakeries and fresh markets. Standouts include Rayon Vert, the eclectic home and florist shop and Fishbowl, the art and clothing gallery. Eateries add a unique flavor to the Mission with taquerias and fresh produce stands on every corner. What you won't find here are fashionistas wearing the same Gap sweater; the Mission prides itself on its inimitable and colorful style.

Polk Street Shopping

Polk St. and Broadway, San Francisco CA

Polk Street is one of the most divergent shopping neighborhoods in San Francisco, offering a blend of high-end consignment shops, affordable retail outfits shops and low-end clothing stores. Different tastes and budgets are accommodated on Polk: the outdoor enthusiast will find Lombardi Sports a sports haven, the uber Mom can find pink tees for herself and baby at Girl Stuff, and the socialite looking for an affordable Chanel jacket can stop in at CRIS, an upscale-only consignment store. Polk is best for out-of-town shoppers who like the gritty mixed in with some high style, the upscale with the zany. Just taking a coffee break allows for options: there's a Starbuck's near the legendary Bob's Donut Shop, offering the classic cheap coffee and glazed donut combo. This San Francisco shopping district has one caveat: the best and safest shopping experience on Polk starts just north of California Street.

Sacramento Street Shopping

Sacramento and Presidio, San Francisco CA

Sacramento Street shopping is on the cusp between Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights in a quiet residential neighborhood. The main features are the interior decor shops and high-end, but fun, clothing boutiques. Sacramento offers household items from small to large, from cashmere sofa throws and scented Florentine soaps to oversized Persian rugs and 19th century French tables. When done buying for the home, shoppers can indulge their fashion tastes with bathing suits designed by Shoshana at Brown Eyed Girl, a shop designed to look like the interior of a hip apartment, and view Jimmy Choo sandals and Prada heels at Fetish shoes. Sacramento Street is the ultimate deluxe shopping avenue with fantastic finds squeezed into a compact little block.