Best Local Places to Buy Gifts This Holiday Season

Shopping for gifts from local small businesses instead of large corporations is the best way to support your community this holiday season. Not to be dramatic, but some businesses rely on the holidays to keep their business afloat the first part of the year when it’s slower. And we realize that, with so many holiday plans, it’s hard to get to go to several different places for all your holiday shopping. These variety shops are great go-to shopping destinations to check off multiple people on your list all at once.

Get your fav book for family members! I had a friend in town and we did a walking tour of North Beach and Chinatown. While we were out and about we stopped in City Lights to grab a few books she’s not able to get in her area. I ended up finding the world’s best tote bag (long strap for cross-body vibe and a velcro closure?!..perfection). But even if you were to buy something like your favorite cookbook for a few people, books make a great gift.

While you’re there, pick up Stuart’s new book The Worst of Broke-Ass Stuart. Part memoir, part cultural archive, this book brings together twenty years of Stuart's stories like running for Mayor of San Francisco, getting paid to travel the world, and hosting his own TV show, as well as his meditations on things like love, death, and of course, dive bars. Can’t get out to the store? Grab the book here online.

Some of our favorite independent book stores in SF featuring creaky floors and the best selections:

City Lights Bookstore
The OG of SF Bookstores. We are so lucky to have City Lights in our city!
City Lights Bookstore [North Beach]

Green Apple Books & Music
They have an amazing used book section and so much more! These are their stores:
Green Apple Books and Music [The Richmond]
Green Apple Books on The Park [The Sunset]
Browser Books [Pacific Hieghts]

The Best Bookstore in Union Square [Union Square]
Bird & Beckett Books and Records [Glen Park]
Book Passage [Ferry Building]
The Booksmith [Upper Haight]
Christopher’s Books [Potrero Hill]
The Counterculture Museum [Upper Haight]
Dog Eared Books [The Mission]
Fabulosa Books [The Castro]
Russian Hill Bookstore [Russian Hill]
Silver Sprocket [The Mission]
Telegraph Hill Books [North Beach]

East Bay
East Bay Booksellers [Oakland]
Pegasus Books [Berkeley]

The Peninsula
Kepler’s Books [Menlo Park]

North Bay
Book Passage [Corte Madera]
Alibi Bookshop [Vallejo]

A great gift shop during the holidays has a variety of gifts so you can pick up a couple items and minimize the time spent running around to find last minute gifts for friends and family. I’ve compiled a short list of some of my favorite local shops online, in SF, The East Bay and The North Bay.

The Peach Fuzz:
Created by Elizabeth Hudy back in 2017, this San Francisco company has the most hilariously whimsical goods for everyone on your list - you can find them online and in many stores across the bay & beyond.
Where: Shop Online - follow them at @thepeachfuzz.co

SF Mercantile:
One of my all time go-tos for locally made goods in San Francisco. You can shop online and in their shops on Haight and in The Castro.
Where: 1698 Haight Street @ Cole, San Francisco, CA
Shop Online and follow them at @sfmercantilestore

Fleetwood SF:
I swear I get my Dad a shirt every year and he’s not mad about it. It’s a tradition at this point. Fleetwood has all of the screen printed goodies your heart would ever want and, while I think we know of them largely for their screen printed goods, they have a slew of other locally made gifts in their shop and online that makes this a great stop for gift giving. In fact, they een have curated gift boxes which makes gift giving extra easy. BONUS: they have workshops, too! A wonderful gift for someone you know who loves learning new things.
Where: 714 Clement Street San Francisco, CA 94118 or online at https://fleetwoodsf.com/ and on socials at @Fleetwood_sf

Dear John
Oakland has a new black woman-owned shop with amazing art pop ups, classes, a mini book store and a slew of well-curated gifts worthy of scooping up for a great gift. They have regular community days and have lots of great things planned for 2026.
Where: 3807 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94619 online shopping available at dearjohnshop.com - check out all their events and happenings on socials at @dearjohnshop 

Lola [Various Locations]
San Franpsycho [Various Locations]

I know a gift card sometimes feels like you’re coping out. But in truth, you’re probably helping that business more than you know just by giving your recipient the gift of choice. Years ago, I learned that gift cards have an interesting statistic about them. When someone comes back into the store to spend their gift card, they often spend up to 2x the original gift card amount. I share this because gift card statistics show that if you buy a gift card at your favorite local shop, your purchase will go even further towards helping them stay afloat in 2026. 

Lastly, it feels like we’ve all had one of those years when money has been tight and it’s hard to pull together extra funds to buy gifts. If you can’t afford to spend any money this holiday season, showing love by sharing events, posts, volunteering when a small business has an event and writing comments of support for your local business on social media is also a way to continue to support your favorite businesses this holiday season.