Shopping in Alameda
Recommended Shopping by Groupon Customers
The Framer's Workshop is a family-owned business that has been servicing the San Francisco Bay area for more than 30 years. Their wide variety of framing services include archival methods to ensure your pictures pass the multiple-choice test of time, green techniques, which use sustainable and eco-friendly materials, and wizard computerized mat cutting to form your photos into any unusual or snazzy shape you fancy.
As a quarterly resource dedicated to the Bay Area landscape, Bay Nature magazine celebrates each season with full-color features on the region's natural environment. Photography and local artwork complement the articles on the area's environmental significance, as well as highlighting places of interest. Clear, intelligent, and sometimes playful language guides readers through the magazine's articles, which have been known to include reports on local birds, plants, weather, and trends like urban agriculture.
In 1967, radio technician and Army veteran Richard Savoy debuted a collection of used books, comics, and old National Geographic magazines in a 750-square-foot space. It was an unusual niche that turned out to be just what the neighborhood wanted, and the original collection planted the seeds of a local literary institution that’s gone on to swallow neighboring storefronts and shoot off into a music, fiction, and DVD annex a few doors down. In 2009, Savoy sold the bookshop to three longtime employees who have put their own stamp on Green Apple Books with innovations such as selling e-books, hosting events, and adding energy-efficient lighting that shines brightest on the stuff you really want to read.
Over the years, the most important facet of the charmingly creaky-floored haven has remained the same: an abiding love for all things literary. You can read it between the lines of the handwritten "shelf-talkers"—small, colorful signs detailing the staff's personal recommendations. You can hear it when you speak to the friendly booksellers themselves—according to Frommer's, the store's "extended sections in psychology, cooking, art, and history; collection of modern first editions; and rare graphic comics are superseded only by the staff's superlative service." And you can feel it in the air as you climb the winding staircase to the second floor to explore tucked-away alcoves surrounded by original gaslight fixtures.
The store's carefully curated and ever-changing inventory ranges from categories such as poetry and philosophy to sports and children's books. The enormous selection and the staff’s astonishing command of it all have earned Green Apple numerous awards, including the title of Best Independent Bookstore in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's 2010 Readers Poll, and Best Overall Bookstore and Best Used Bookstore in 2011 and 2012. The owners spread the joy of reading beyond the shop’s overstuffed walls by partnering with worthy causes such as the Asia Foundation's Books for Asia program and Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.
Rob Spear's love affair with bikes began at the age of 13. Since that sunny day in the 1980s, he’s spent 23 years learning the ins and outs of bikes, having worked with Discovery Masters National Cycling Team and with the University of Washington’s aerodynamic laboratory. At the one-man shop known as Spearhead Bicycle Excellence, he channels those skills into building and repairing bikes so that they function as a seamless extension of their rider, whether through proper fittings that allow for correct posture or tune-ups that keep parts working together correctly. Rob doesn’t keep any bikes in stock, instead opting to build custom bikes for clients who want an impartial expert or require a comically large front wheel.
At Nest Maternity, helpful staffers happily assist expecting moms, guiding them through what can often be a confusing, albeit exciting period in their lives. With the goal of making mothers-to-be comfortable, they adorned their shop with tranquil fountains, a lounge, and a kids' play area—all thoughtful details that helped earn them the Red Tricycle Award in 2011 for Best Maternity Store and in 2012 for Plushest Baby & Maternity Shops. Shelves teem with haute threads from Olian and Lilac, which celebrate and enhance the beauty of a woman's body during pregnancy, as well as accessories including musical CDs, nursing covers, diaper bags, and carriers. In addition to dresses, skirts, and jeans designed to fit over baby bumps, they also carry organic baby clothes that accommodate infants who are slowly transforming into larger infants or small children.
With the advice and keen nose knowledge of shopkeeper Margaret and her dog, Bandit, patrons navigate avenues of specialized soaps, candles, and lotions from international and noted body-care designers such as Pre de Provence, Royal Apothic, and Olivina. In addition to nourishing skin cells and captivating olfactory glands, the shop stocks an assortment of robes, linens, and jewelry. Pajamas by BedHead and Pine Cone Hill complete body-care packages, ensuring patrons are properly attired for formal dreams.
