Hot Topic - San Bruno

It's about the music, or so they say.

This is one of those stores targeted towards teenagers that sells individuality through heavily branded merchandise. Much of what they sell is music oriented. It is a good place to buy a band t-shirt, but shelves are also filled with Nick-knacks, toys and other clothing covered with wry sayings references to TV, movies and popular culture. It's a combination of the type of merchandise found at Urban Outfitters and Spencers Gifts.

Overall, a good gift shop for teens and the occasional old person who's looking for a Ramones t-shirt.

Tanforan Mall
San Bruno, CA 94066
650.553.5100

Sephora -- San Francisco Airport

To those of us who are addicted to beauty products, Sephora a pretty, nice smelling crack den. We can't leave the store empty handed. Nars, Fresh, Philosophy, Dr Perricone are just a few of my favorites. They also sell a great lip gloss that plumps the lips, Lip Injection Extreme.

For those who need a little retail therapy to sooth pre-flight jitters, Sephora at the airport seem to carry most of the lines available at the downtown store. Beware, though, it's before the security checkpoint so don't buy anything you can't carry on.

International Terminal
San Francisco Airport

SFMOMA Store - San Francisco Airport

With the additions of the SFMOMA store and Sephora, shopping is improving considerably at the San Francisco Airport. The restaurants are improving too, but that's another blog.

The SFMOMA store has lots of cute toys, books and decorator items. It's a good place to spend your last US dollars or to buy last-minute gifts for arty people back home. Most of the things are designer-inspired & certainly beat a key chain or t-shirt grabbed on the way the the gate.

Teenage Row - Tanforan Mall

It is sheer genius to put the teenage stores together at Tanforan Mall. Of course, one could argue that the whole mall is teenage haven, but some shops, such as Hot Topic, Pacific Sun, Zumiez & Shoe Palace are especially alluring to teens and the mutton dressed as lamb brave enough to shop there without a young person in tow.

Tanforan Mall
San Bruno, CA 94066
650.553.5100

Shoe Palace – Tanforan

I went to high school with Cholas. They stood on the concrete benches that ran along the hallways, hair sprayed into stiff Ms, bra straps hanging out of white tank tops, dark Levi cords accessorized with navy blue canvas shoes and web belts. When it was cold, or perhaps, if the principal made them, they wore Pendleton shirts. The more femme girls wore babydoll tank tops, the smocked kind you used to be able to buy by the foot at the fabric store and turn into a top with one seam.

That was years ago. Now, the Latinas I see on a daily basis are more likely to shop at Forever 21 than the men’s department at Sears. If you want to see Chola style, you must be content to shop at Macy’s for the few bits of inspiration Gwen Stefani stole for her L.A.M.B collection. Where have all the Cholas gone? Is it a style that is no longer relevant? I used to think so, until this weekend, at Shoe Palace in the Tanforan Mall.

I was ogling the wall of youth-sized Nikes, (By the way, girls, youth sizes go up to 6.5, which is the same as a women’s 8.5, at nearly half the price.) when three girls in full Chola uniform walked in. Instead of cords, they wore Dickies, and their tank tops were much tighter and shorter, but they had the same unmistakable Chola hairdo, the same pencil-thin eyebrows and the same black plastic bracelets tied into intricate designs. They were all buying black Vans. It’s probably the closest they could get to the navy blue canvas shoes of the 80s.

If Chola-style is coming back, Tanforan mall, with it’s distinctive urban focus, is the place for it to happen. Shoe Palace is the perfect starting point. The clerks dress more hip hop than shop boy, all of the shoes are up-to-the minute teenage chic and the price is right. I bought a pair of Air Max Nikes for $80. Try doing that at Macy’s.

Tanforan Mall
San Bruno, CA 94066
650.553.5100