The Best Places to Shop in San Diego

Meet Cute Bookstore in North Park

From wedding invites to custom notepads, Sweet Paper in La Jolla is a one-stop shop for finding pretty paper goods and other post-worthy delights. Customers can be choosy when searching the stationery and gift boutique for greeting and business cards, locally inspired presents, personalized envelopes, gift wrap, and other products that make sending mail more exciting. The ways to include your own personal touch are endless. –MK

Not a single Dan Brown thriller in sight. Queer-owned North Park bookshop Meet Cute exclusively stocks romance novels, with particular focus on LGBTQ and BIPOC authors (and an allowance for the occasional queer memoir or nonfiction writing guide). And if you happen to reach for a book at the same time as a fellow hopeless romantic... Well, we know how this story goes. –AR

This 40-year-old, family-owned San Diego business just launched new 3D foot-scanning technology that helps customers with their in-store shoe, sock, and custom insole fitting experience—for free, in less than 10 minutes. Called Fit Finder, the tech provides a comprehensive foot analysis with personalized shoe and gear recommendations, including apparel from their Korsa collection and their popular (as in 12-million-plus sales) R-Gear Drymax socks. –KO

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The city's entire population of Gen Z iconoclasts materializes at this roving market to shop women-, LGBTQ-, and BIPOC-owned businesses. Consider a full-scale, '90s-movie-style makeover–new pre-loved outfit, new handmade resin earings, new piercings–or simply pick up a croissant-shaped candle and try to recover from the fact that early noughties clothing is now considered "vintage". –AR

Finally, an answer to the dilemma of what to put on a wedding registry when you already live together and own a Nespresso machine: Ask for prickly pear salt. A newish North Park shop from the founder of Artelexia, Casa y Cocina sources tableware, kitchen items, dry goods, and other home stuff from Mexico and offers registry services. Sure, you have dishes, but a handmade Oaxacan salsa bowl? Didn’t think so. –AR

Angelica B Beauty takes self-care seriously. While picking up beauty products and home décor, guests can browse Angelica B’s line of pleasure products to learn more about sexual wellness. Whether you’re getting your roots touched up or adding color to your sex toy game, this beauty shop in South Park is all about empowering women from head to... use your imagination. –NM

Your home bar called. Your grenadine’s expired. Upgrade your dinner party drink game at Collins & Coupe, a North Park barware store slinging new and vintage glassware, cocktail recipe books, specialty ice, bar tools, and every imaginable mixer (garam masala bitters, anyone?). You’ll have to hit a liquor store for the booze—though they do offer a selection of zero-proof spirits for sober folks craving something shaken or stirred. –AR

In the front, the queer-owned University Heights studio is a fairy garden offering taxidermied critters, fantasy-inspired wire crowns, and Kewpie dolls. The muraled back room hosts more than a dozen artists, each with their own distinctive art style. Browse their Instagram to find the flash that feels most you,from ultra-detailed stick-n-pokes to sketchy, brightly colored florals and spindly abstract sigils. –AR

A step above BFF necklaces and below getting one another’s initials inked. At Liberty Station, the Fuze team welds delicate, claspless chains onto wrists, ankles, and necks. Select your metal and chain style (the shop offers more budget-friendly sterling silver and gold-filled options as well as 14-karat white and yellow gold) and, with a flash, you’re friends for life. –AR

Environmentally conscious consumers don’t have to spend ages reading labels when they visit this zero-waste refillery in Kensington. Shoppers can bring their own containers to Earthwell Refill to buy plant-and mineral-based beauty and cleaning products. With the mission of diverting plastic items from the landfill and local waterways, Earthwell sources natural goods, such as detergent, shampoo, shower gel, and other toiletries, as well as sustainable items like stainless steel razors and bamboo toothbrushes. –MK

By Reanna Lebitski

Gabriel Feitosa is an expert in pet glow-ups. If you’re looking to turn your chow chow into a cheetah or to tie-dye your terrier, he has you covered. The owner of Gabriel Feitosa Pet Boutique in University Heights, Feitosa is an internationally awarded dog groomer who has racked up more than 2 million followers on TikTok with videos of his colorful pet makeovers— transforming pups into safari animals and Disney characters. From his early days as a groomer for dog shows in Brazil to the 2018 opening of his San Diego salon, Feitosa has been refining his skills in show and creative cuts for nearly 20 years while working with renowned breeders and show judges. His stacked resume includes features in TV shows, magazine covers (including the one you're reading), music videos for Brazilian singers, dog food commercials, and much more. The salon offers services such as deep conditionings, standard pet cuts, and of course, the famous full- puppy paint job with nontoxic and vegan dyes made specifically for dogs. It is a place where Feitosa reminds us to add a little fun to our normal routines. And the fact that he’s figured out a way to make a living creating art while hanging out with puppies? Best job ever.

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