It’s Like, Like New

new-location

Today’s post features neither a new company nor a new phenomenon, but there’s no denying that this new economy is putting secondhand and consignment stores in sharper demand than ever. Fortunately my neighborhood, North Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, is one groovy little strip down which you can trip and pick up gently used goods at great prices. Modernaire, Pegasus Books, and Mixed Pickles are just a few of my favorites in the area.

Needless to say, I was far less surprised than I was pleased by my recent trek to Berkeley’s freshly expanded Crossroads Trading Company, which now boasts an additional 1,500 sq ft or so (i.e., a new boutique), filled with new and like-new clothing, shoes, and accessories. Just two days after Christmas, the house was absolutely packed; even with four registers running, the line of customers waiting to pay kept snaking deeper amidst the racks.

I myself scored a killer pair of new Damien Hirst x Levi’s limited-edition waxed bondage jeans for a shocking $26. There are many treasures like these lying in store for you at Crossroads, but the biggest bargain is the ability to choose your own consumer adventure: i.e., to buy, sell, and/or trade.

While some people joke that we should go back to a barter economy, until that day arrives you can bet that more and more people will be hitting up your local secondhand and consignment shops for goodies that are in season, in style, and most importantly in budget. To get the best things first, I suggest you visit early and often.

Crossroads Trading Company’s Berkeley location is at 2338 Shattuck Avenue. For a location nearest you, visit the company’s Web site. For more information about the Bay Area’s best secondhand shops, try tribe.net or, of course, Yelp.

— Kay

Head & Tails: Cask

Head & Tails is where we spill it all about the area’s nearest and dearest brewpubs, bars, wine cellars, tasting rooms, package stores, liquor aisles, and well, we ARE thorough. Up or over, shaken or stirred, we’re looking for the best bets to quench your thirst.

Think you’re familiar with the liquor store formula? Think you know all your premium single malts from your ryes? Well, think again. The booze-friendly team behind the Tenderloin speak-easy Bourbon and Branch are about to school you. Enter Cask. In a market that is becoming increasingly more conscious of the independent and artisanal offerings, Cask would like to introduce you to the smart and sophisticated world of [gasp] artisanal distillers. From their single-batch bourbons to select Sonoma County wines, they don’t carry anything that hasn’t been hand-selected and personally tasted. Think of it as them having already done the dirty work for you. (Not that I would be complaining.) And for the at-home mixologist, Cask also carries a comprehensive collection of bar tools and reference books. With the experts at Cask hard at work on refining your palette, the only thing left for you to work on improving is your tolerance.

Cask is located at 17 Third Street, at Market, in San Francisco. 415.424.4844.

—Michael

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Happy @#%&*! Holidays

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Aimee Mann’s 3rd Annual Christmas Show at Bimbo’s. Part rock concert, part variety show, the event always seems less like a promotional vehicle and more like a chance for Mann to ham it up with her band and a random group of friends—famous and otherwise. Considering Mann’s previous record with labels and agents, even something as commercial as a Christmas concert feels genuine with her at the helm (part of last night’s routine featured her angst over whether or not she’d sold out by shilling for a yogurt company).

Leading the troupe as emcee was the cantankerous and ever-hilarious Patton Oswalt, who offered an impeccable send-up of how improbable today’s world would seem to someone from way back when … in 1998. Other notable mentions included Grant-Lee Phillips disguised as various characters, including a hirsute Willie Nelson granting a depressed woman’s wish for him to vocalize Mann’s 80s anthem, “Voices Carry”; Nellie McKay, all sunshine and lollipops in a lemon-yellow frock à la Loretta Lynn, confirming her status as Satan’s favorite anti-folk songstress; and last but never least, the wiggity Hanukkah Fairy (a frizzed and frazzled Morgan Murphy), returning for round three whilst apparently drinking “Two Buck Chuck” for two, in a tutu no less.

While I wouldn’t say it was Mann’s best effort (I’ve gone all three years and maintain that her first show felt the freshest), I didn’t walk away disappointed. For one thing, Mann included a handful of songs from her latest album, @#%&*! Smilers, which just coming off her European tour sounded nothing short of fabulous. As for the rest of the evening—a sold-out show replete with F-bombs, heavy booze, and an air of inanity tinged with imperfection—Mann and her wacky entourage felt like family indeed, even for a @#%&*! Scrooge like me.

—Kay

Model Citizen

Looking for the best way to make a lasting impression with your holiday gift-giving
this year? San Francisco’s Lower Pac Heights has a solution in store.

The recently opened pop-up Storeroom is that genuinely rare bird in a sea of sameness. You can’t help but give in to new products from the likes of Jimmyjane, Areaware, and yet-to-be-released titles from Chronicle Books, not to mention the carefully curated collection from Storeroom’s own host company CITIZEN:Citizen.

Notable giftables include the final production-run on a FredriksonStallard's Candle #1 and Tobias Wong's Ballistic Rose (a recent addition to the permanent collection at the MoMA).

With such an irresistible array of luxe goods on the menu at up to 30-50% off, the challenge is not falling victim to absolutely everything you covet. The doors close in just 4 weeks, so make haste. Unlike your grandmother’s fruitcake, this treat won’t be around after the New Year.

Storeroom is located at 2226 Bush Street, San Francisco. Open now through the holidays. On the web at the-storeroom.com or shop online at citizen-citizen.com

—Michael

Flipping for Filippa K

The signs are all over the TV, the news rags, and most recently my couch. The recession has arrived, and we’d better put on the coffee and turn down the bedsheets because it’s not going away anytime soon. Coincidentally, these dark nights of the wallet are affording me plenty of time for wonderment: What’s with this açai berry and Oprah? What kind of collar would look best on a French bulldog? Why is Scandinavian art and design so darn good? I’d share all of my conclusions, but with all this free time on my hands I’m trying to pace myself. (Time is actually the inverse of money, to my dismay.)

What I will say is that I couldn’t be happier now that Swedish fashion designer Filippa Knutsson has opened her first U.S. flagship store, Filippa K, in San Francisco. With design driven by style, simplicity, and quality, the arrival of Filippa K is a welcome sight in a world gone dark. And in case you’ve forgotten, Scandinavians are well acquainted with darkness.

Filippa K specializes in understated yet contemporary styles that emphasize the person within. In a world mesmerized with surfaces, I find this remarkably refreshing and well worth the price. The company is also a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, which promotes fair treatment and pay for garment workers, and has even begun recycling gently used vintage Filippa K garments in its Stockholm store. Corporate responsibility, impeccably crafted clothing, and seasonless style that weathers trends and time? Wonderment, indeed.

Filippa K is located at 66 Kearny Street, just south of Post. 415-951-0210.

—Kay