Best of the County and Beyond 2021: Shopping

Shop till you drop with the best shopping voted by our readers from women’s clothing, bookstores, and everything in between.

Best Book Store

Marin: Book Passage, Corte Madera

Book nerds came together to place a long-running shop that pivoted to outdoor service and digital events during Covid on the top shelf.

Bay Area: Green Apple Books, San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: Copperfield’s, Larkspur and San Rafael

Bay Area: Books, Inc., San Francisco

 

Best Women’s Clothing

Marin: Viva Diva Boutique, San Rafael

On-trend tanks, rompers and jeans from popular brands paired with high-touch, one-on-one service earned a shower of love from voters.

Bay Area: Margaret O’Leary, San Francisco

 

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Runners Up

Marin: The Store, Mill Valley

Bay Area: Betty Lin, San Francisco

 

Best Consignment/Thrift

Marin: Swan Dive

Located on an easy-tomiss corner of Menke Park, this shop is a perpetual winner for its efforts to source only high-quality designer items and give fair prices to consignees.

Bay Area: Cris, San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: Stella’s Fine Consignments, San Anselmo

Bay Area: Reloved, San Francisco

 

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Best Men’s Clothing

Marin: The Perfect Provenance, Tiburon

The refined California style is evident from shoes and shorts to bathing suits — and speaks to men of all ages.

Bay Area: Mr. Lin, San Francisco

 

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Runners Up

Marin: Nordstrom 

Bay Area: Rag & Bone, San Francisco

 

Best Eyewear

Marin: Wink Optics, Mill Valley and San Anselmo

 

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Our voters love the personal, dare we say old-fashioned, service and right-sized selection of on-brand glasses and sunglasses.

Bay Area: Rims & Goggles, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: Marin Optometry, Mill Valley

Bay Area: 20/20 Optical

 

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Best Gifts

Marin: Poet and/the Bench, Mill Valley

Poet and the Bench
Laura Roebuck Something Quiet About Joy

Curator Bonnie Powers and goldsmith Jeffrey Levin enjoy hanging out at the shop with friends new and old, but it’s the custom jewelry and contemporary artwork that tipped this atelier into the winner’s circle.

Bay Area: Maker’s Market, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: Chase Ace Hardware Garden & Gift, San Rafael

Bay Area: Rare Device, San Francisco

 

Best Home Furnishing/Home Accessories

Marin: Sunrise Home, San Rafael

Over 30,000 square feet of showroom space provides ample opportunity to experience a range of furniture in different finishes and fabrics for nearly every room in the house.

Bay Area: RH, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: Summer House, Mill Valley

Bay Area: Hudson Grace, SF

 

Best Jewelry

Marin: Sofia Jewelry, Mill Valley

 

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Multiple generations of the Priolo family are on-hand to help customers through the sometimes fraught decision of buying jewelry, a nice touch for what can be a once-in-alifetime purchase.

Bay Area: D&H Jewelers, San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: California Girl Jewelry, Mill Valley

Bay Area: Gallery of Jewels, San Francisco

 

Best Pet Store

Marin: Woodlands Pet, Mill Valley

The shop’s assortment of leashes, collars and other goodies for pets is great but really, isn’t it all about the kittens playing in the window?

Bay Area: Pet Food Express, San Francisco

 

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Runners Up

Marin: Pet Club, Corte Madera

Bay Area: George, San Francisco

 

Best Shopping Center/Mall

Marin: The Village at Corte Madera

OK, OK, it’s all about the Apple store, but voters also like the children’s play area, plentiful eating options, fountains and majestic flower baskets at this shopping center.

Bay Area: Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto

Runners Up

Marin: Marin Country Mart

Marin Country Mart

Bay Area: Fourth Street, Berkeley

 

Best Bridal Shop

Marin: Lea Couture, San Anselmo

Call Lea for an appointment; bring your ideas for the ideal wedding dress, mother of the bride or wardrobe items; and she will realize them for you as if out of thin air.

Bay Area: Emerald City Gowns, Berkeley

Runners Up

Bay Area: Bliss Bridal & Black Tie, Petaluma

 

Best Home & Garden Store

Marin: Ground, Belvedere-Tiburon

Ground

Realizing that Marinites live life indoors and out, a new store serves up plants, tableware, baskets, teas and much more.

Bay Area: Sloat Garden Center, multiple locations

 

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Runners Up

Marin: Green Jeans Garden Supply, Mill Valley

Bay Area: Flora Grubb Gardens, San Francisco

 

Best Cannabis Delivery

Marin: Ona Life, San Rafael

 

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Delivery that works around your schedule, an in-depth cannabis education program, and a commitment to the community and giving back are pillars of this women-owned business.

Runners Up

Marin: Nice Guys

 

Best Cannabis Dispensary

Bay Area: The Apothecarium Dispensary, San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin:  Moonflower, San Rafael

 

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Visit our Best of the County winners page for more.


Christina Mueller

Christina Mueller is a long-time Bay Area food writer. She hails from the East Coast and has spent way too much time in South America and Europe. She discovered her talent as a wordsmith in college and her love of all things epicurean in grad school. She has written for Condé Nast Contract PublishingSunset, and the Marin Independent Journal, among others. She volunteers with California State Parks and at her child’s school, and supports the Marin Audubon SocietyPEN America, and Planned Parenthood. When she is not drinking wine by a fire, she is known to spend time with her extended family.s the Assistant Editor at Marin Magazine and a graduate of Elon University where she studied Professional Writing and Fine Art. Born and raised in San Francisco/Marin, she loves traveling just as much as coming home to the Bay Area. She has curated a sophisticated palate for food, travel and culture and uses her travels as an outlet to develop her photography portfolio and hone her writing craft.