Local Boutiques to See in San Jose, California
In March I had the wonderful opportunity to visit San Jose, California to attend a conference for work. I was there for about five days staying downtown, right next to the convention center.
This was my first time to the state of California! Not gonna lie, it didn’t live up to my “Cali dreams” I had in my head, mostly due to the week full of gray clouds + rain didn’t help much. I also wasn’t on a beach, so I probably had unrealistic expectations coming into the city. But, I still had a decent time and brought back some local small businesses to share!
San Jose is a little widespread, so I’ve broken up my destinations by area of the city. I walked if I was staying in the main downtown area, but if I ventured further out, I took the light rail – which is super easy to use, but a bit slow on the wait times. I only took an Uber once out to Santana Row (plus to/from airport), so these spots should be doable without a car or racking up the ride share costs.
Japan Town
Classic Loot
Venture just north of downtown San Jose and you’ll find Japan Town – one of three left in the US, all of which reside in California.
Not only is this where I found a great local boutique, but also found some fun curb appeal and street art, too!
In the quiet and serine scene of Japantown you will find Classic Loot – an eclectic little space filled with trinkets and trendy pieces. It’s vibrant exterior is a beacon on the street.
Starting out as a mobile boutique, this new storefront is has so many treasures to be found! With plants in one corner, enamel pins + patches on one wall and fun accessories & clothing throughout, I circled this tiny little shop way too many times, finding something new each round.
I ended up walking away with a new pair of sunglasses and a cute little llama enamel pin to add to my growing collection. It was really hard for me to not pick up a mini cactus, but it didn’t seem travel friendly.
Mixed within the colorful shelves and displays were sprinkles of locally made items. But, the best part had to have been finding a bowl of Pokémon stickers at the register – perfect for Japantown!
Sunol-Midtown
Black & Brown
In Midtown San Jose, or Sunol-Midtown, just west of downtown, is a nice, part residential, part commercial area. Here is where I found an awesome Whole Foods Market where I ate dinner and sat outside. But, this is also where I found a hip, two story vintage shop called Black & Brown.
I almost didn’t realize I was there when coming down the street! The house-like exterior with a gated front patio made me think it was a home. But, once stepping inside, you soon realize you’ve definitely found the right spot.
There were TONS of clothes, shoes, jackets, accessories and the like. With a wide range of styles, sizes and ways to piece an outfit together, this place still had a unique take on vintage apparel. I love how you can feel that the store is finely curated by the humans behind the shop.
If you venture upstairs you’ll find an entire space dedicated to men, which is great! I’m not the biggest vintage goer, but I feel like it’s a somewhat rare to find vintage spaces dedicated to men. Again, finely curated and displayed so wonderfully!
Overall, the space had cozy corners and even some apothecary goods if that’s more your thing. I highly recommend coming to this area and checking this place out!
Downtown Campbell
Therapy
Take a drive 10 minutes southwest (or 20 minutes on the light rail like I did!) and you’ll end up in the little ‘burb of Campbell. I know most people probably have never been to Winter Garden, FL, but my in-laws live there and downtown Campbell reminded me exactly of Winter Garden! Quaint, cozy and the feeling of a little gem you’ve just found.
I really wish I had better photos of the area, but it was starting to rain on me and get cloudy and dark from the impending storm and nightfall. So, this is what we’re workin’ with!
I ate dinner at a tiny little restaurant called Brown Chicken Brown Cow, where they served delicious grass-fed burgers. While the food was great, unfortunately there was terrible service and I waited over 20 minutes to get a “check up” from the server and to get my check to leave… but after I finally left dinner, I stopped into two local shops!
First up, is Therapy. Starting in San Francisco, this big boutique has grown to have locations all through the Bay Area and a few more around California. They even have one location in Portland, OR!
This shop was much larger than I anticipated and there were SO. MANY. THINGS! Not gonna lie, I was a little overwhelmed, but it was very fun, trendy and entertaining items. It’s kind of hard to put a “label” on what they have, but pretty much everything.
Home decor, candles, bath + body goods, cards, trinkets + souvenirs, kitchen items, California finds, water bottles, you name it. In the back they even have an entire women’s clothing section – I didn’t dare venture back there. 😉
Although it was a lot and I didn’t make it through the entire store, I loved everything I saw. This seems like a perfect “catch all” stop to please anyone in a group together.
Redemption
This next place was the jackpot, and my absolute favorite of my entire trip. And I quite literally stumbled upon it. I was walking to the end of the block and was about to cross the street to turn around and catch the light rail back to my hotel. As I turned around to head back I did a double take as I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye reading, “Shop local, shop California made.” I turned around so fast I almost gave myself whiplash! This was a beacon of light in the night for me.
Housing only California-made goods that are not only local, but are also ethical, natural and the like. This store SCREAMS me. I about died with happiness (cue dramatic music). I ended up taking home a soy candle, herbal tea and a “shop lo-cali” (get it) sticker. But there was tons of jewelry, men’s + women’s clothing, perfumes, reclaimed wood art and so much more.
The entire store smelled amazing and the guy and gal working the shop that night were the nicest people ever. They gave me their “spiel” of the store concept, talked about the different makers and raved about what their faves were and what were most popular in each category.
Whether you are traveling through or a California native, I highly recommend this stop. It’s really great to see a local business leveraging their storefront to entrepreneurs from the entire state.
Santana Row
Makers Market
Santana Row is one of the main shopping + dining areas in San Jose. Filled with big, beautiful retail shops and fancy restaurants, this is a must for any tourist. Typically, this isn’t “small shop” friendly sounding, but I managed to find Makers Market.
This little shop houses nothing but handcrafted goods made in the good ol’ U.S. of A. You really get the traditional, authentic feeling of craftsmanship when browsing this place.
I think it’s really cool that this local boutique is in a high foot-trafficked area and is a bit of freshness against more “standard” retailers.
I went to a few more stops in my week-long stay in the city, but these were definitely the top San Jose local boutiques that I recommend. If you’re from or have visited the area, what places to do you love?