Shopping in Concord

When Lori Shannon first announced her intent to run a marathon, people responded with more than a hint of incredulity. Lori had no experience and, at 5’3” and a size 16, she didn’t cut the form of a typical distance runner. Even so, she set to work and completed the 1993 New York City Marathon, proving to herself that with the proper training and dedication, she need not live life as a spectator. Since crossing that first finish line, Lori has never looked back; she has since run multiple marathons, competed in triathlons, and ridden her bike cross-country.

Seven years later, Lori founded See Jane Run in San Francisco, hoping to empower women to test their limitations and bolster their own fitness and self-confidence. The female-operated fitness company has since grown to encompass four West Coast locations that sell women’s running gear, including shoes, sports bras, and aerodynamic shower caps. At its four retail locations, like-minded runners come together with free weekly run clubs, giving them a group setting in which to train to meet their own individual goals or prepare for one of See Jane Run’s half marathons or 5Ks.

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.

Grab an organically pre-packed Numi teabag such as the antioxidant-infused chocolate Puerh black tea blend accented with orange peel, nutmeg, and cinnamon ($9.99 for box of 16 bags), or load your own loose-leaf tea to finely tune the proportional potency of each cup of mint Puerh organic green tea ($13 for a 4 oz. bag). Upgrade from practical yet tasteless Chia Pets with the decorative and flavorful properties of flowering tea that blooms when steeped (from $7.99 for a 27-gram box). Or simplify your drink with an essential teapot such as the classic sage ceramic pot with bamboo handle ($26.99). You can browse the online catalog for a taste of what Numi carries, but your Groupon can only be used in-store.

PosePrints is the mind child of mother-daughter team Denise and Jen, who are known to uncontrollably shudder at the sight of generic cards. Each customized card allow you to transform your likeness and up to one other likeness (only two figures can inhabit the same card) into rosy, illustrated caricatures that are darling enough to grace the cover of any greeting. You can assemble your paper doppelganger from a selection of hairstyles and colors, eye shapes and expressions, outfits, accessories, and more. Men, women, kids, and babies are all available to construct, mad-doctor-style.

With more than 3,000 titles in the store, Issues contains enough information to finally put the smug Dewey Decimal System to shame. Brush up on foreign policy with the latest issue of the Monocle ($10), ruminate on the cultural impact of food (especially the beautifully photographed variety) in Gastronomica ($13), or challenge your love of corporations with some anti-corporate critical thinkery with Adbusters ($8.95). While browsing, don't hesitate to tap the friendly staff's deep knowledge of the store's catalog, which can be accessed either by asking them or by rubbing their magical bellies.

Over the past 23 years, Cheap Pete’s framers have honed their technique to a science, creating high-quality framing for any type of artwork, document, or object. Four Bay Area locations stock a huge selection of ready-made frames, including environmentally friendly options crafted from sustainably harvested pine or bamboo. Collage frames display a multitude of photos, showcasing favorite family memories or charting the development of a tiny infant into an adult-size infant. Customers can also create DIY frames with a large selection of framing tools and supplies.

Cheap Pete’s custom-framing services give customers the choice of more than 300 styles of mouldings, five types of glass, and a rainbow of mat colors. Shadowboxes display three-dimensional objects such as sports jerseys, matchbox cars, or exhibitionistic human beings. The shop also stretches canvases onto canvas bars, readying them to be hung at home or on the walls of a gallery.