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Retail Therapy

Where to Shop Now

Oakland’s New and the Almost New   

    As the year quickly comes to a close, here’s a look back at the new shops Oakland’s seen in the past few years. From newsprint to monoprints, these places carry it all.

Mignonne
    This cozy shop is a little corner of France in downtown Oakland. Johnelle Mancha and her mother, Kimberlee Mancha, launched the store in mid-’06, but don’t come by looking for Kimberlee Mancha—she’s living the dream and made the move to la France in summer 2008, now living about an hour from Bordeaux. Look here for an eclectic mix of vintage finds from France and new home items from France and nearby, including original art from Oakland artists. On a recent trip, Retail Therapy picked up a $40 monoprint of the moon and stars by Oakland artist Diana Blackwell—complete with vintage frame—for our petit enfant’s room. Also on offer: vintage French tins and advertising art, cutesy French baby gear, wine stoppers made of vintage doorknobs ($36) and retro barware. The boutique has a party every few months with wine, appetizers and local artists. Find out more on the Mignonne blog. 1000 Jefferson St., (510) 444-5288, www.mignonnedecor.com or jesuismignonne.blogspot.com, 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m. Tue.–Fri., noon–7 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Drift
    Down the street, slip into the hippest denim around at Drift, also owned by Johnelle Mancha, along with fiancé Alfonso Dominguez, and launched in late 2006. The boutique carries a range of denim duds for men and women, including the brands One Culture, Kasil, The Stronghold, Cheap Monday, and 18th Amendment. Naked & Famous offers plain-Jane jeans for $220, with the logo “keep it simple”—no washes or embroidery, just fabric straight from Japan. For women, a recent shopping trip turned up a pair of über-trendy grey high-waisted jeans from Cassette for $275. Check out the back room for vintage gear, including good ole Lee jeans for $25 and pairs of Levi’s and Wranglers, as well as tops, shoes and accessories. 815 Washington St., (510) 444-8815, driftdenimessentials.blogspot.com, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Mon.–Sat., 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Sun.

Issues
    Joe Colley and Noella Teele, who very gamely call themselves “partners in life and business,” launched this more-than-a-newsstand just off Piedmont Avenue in June 2007. A recent sampling in their window pretty much covers the breadth of magazines available here: Vogue Bambini, Belly Dance, Billiards Digest, Haute Doll, Faerie Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, Critters USA (complete with Guinea pig cover model) and The Georgia Review. In fact, they stock more than 3,000 magazines, although without a computerized inventory (they are charmingly old school for being such a young couple), Colley and Teele don’t know exactly how many magazines, newspapers, zines, literary journals and books they have in the store at any one time. 20 Glen Ave., (510) 652-5700, www.issuesshop.com, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Tue.–Sat.

Fiveten Studio
    Part retail shop, part gallery, Fiveten opened on the tree-shaded corner of Broadway and Ninth Street in July 2007. Founded by Drift’s Dominguez and Sean Matthews, the space features an interesting mix of locally made furniture, jewelry, art and home décor, all with a very contemporary flair. Check out designers such as San Francisco’s Mike and Maaike, whose “Juxtaposed: Religion Bookshelf” contains texts from the world’s major religions in a floating bookshelf with8 seven notches cut into it so that the tops of the various-sized books are all presented at the same height ($2,500, but it’s art, not an workaday bookshelf!) and a gorgeous and solid “Butterfly Table” from Oaklanders MRCW Design/Build (husband-and-wife team Monica Reskala and Christopher Weiss), made out of Monterey cypress and steel ($14,000). The back room is a gallery that features continually changing shows from local artists. 831 Broadway, (510) 451-9900, www.fivetenstudio.com and www.fivetenstudio.blogspot.com, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Thu.–Sat.

Verse
    This hip-hop flavored shoe boutique has its own subtitle: the Academy of Fine Art and the Science of Sneakers, and true to its word, carries both sneakers and art. The boutique opened at this spot in late 2007, and owner Tyranny Allen is a local celebrity having been a member of the much-lauded Oakland hip-hop group Digital Underground. The boutique offers limited edition and dead-stock sneakers that range up to $1,000 a pair (for a double pack of limited edition Air Jordans in a gold box with an 18-karat gold tag). Also come by for locally designed T-shirts by No Rival and Thug Boss and caps emblazoned with “ht” for local brand Hella Tight, which every good Oaklander knows is a definite shout out to the in-crowd. 481 Ninth St., (510) 709-9695, www.verseoakland.com and versesneakerboutique.blogspot.com, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Mon.–Sat.

—By Elise Proulx
—Photography Amy Pearl