Happy Tuesday friends! I hope your week is going well! I am still overwhelmed by the excitement from my post in August all about Creative Reuse shops and reviewing these places! I am so excited that y'all are so excited about this travel series! These stores are truly a treasure trove adventures for artists, teachers, creators, homeschool and creative mamas, and anyone who loves to create. You can find a map of all of the shops HERE!
Today I am so excited to share about SCRAP, located in San Francisco, California which is the oldest creative reuse shop in the United States!! Started in 1976, SCRAP is truly the pioneer in these types of shops!
If you would like to know just basic facts about this shop please just scroll down to the bottom of the post where I will be sharing basic information to help those who want to know more specifics about each of the creative reuse shops and some tips from each store!
Today I am sharing more about SCRAP which is located in San Francisco, California. I visited there in April 2023 and it was wonderful!
This honestly is one of my favorite creative reuse stores and shops I have been to! There are so many unique things and so many great prices that it deserves tons of time but even if you only have two hours like I did, go visit because you will love it!
This store had so many fun offerings of all different types of mixed media, scrap, craft and art resources and more. Compared to other creative reuse shops that I have visited so far I would say that this would had the most items for every type of artwork (not just crafting).
You can see from the very first picture that while the space from the outside looked small, as soon I entered you could tell that it was HUGE.
It felt symbolic honestly y'all because it felt like an abandoned warehouse that had been salvaged along with all of the treasures that I was finding inside! BUT- they are looking for a new building (you can read more about that HERE)! In the meantime this 9,000+ square foot building is a lovely home and honestly so wonderful!
I ended up spending nearly 2 and 1/2 hours and I still didn't feel like I had seen everything!
Compared to some of the other creative reuse places I have visited this may not have been defined as "cutesy" but I loved it. It was an amazing place and if you are into searching stores for art supply treasures and digging through a bit- you will absolutely love this place.
Things are very organized, despite the amount of items and there were so many things to look through! Honestly, you could find so many different items depending on your craft/work/hobby here. It was truly filled with so many things and I loved the way that people had donated these items to be reused instead of just throwing them out into a landfill!
The prices were fair from my experience in visiting so many different creative reuse stores and the people and workers were friendly and helpful. One of the neat things with the workers that we interacted with was they truly seemed genuinely interested in what people were making and creating. One of the managers came up and introduced himself and knew that I was there for the first time. He asked all about my art and what I like to create and offered to show me all different ideas that he had. It was FABULOUS. It was neat to see that there was obviously a community that was common there and I was welcomed right into that. As I walked around I interacted with artists of all different stages and those who were creating amazing things. Definitely a fun creative community experience!
It is definitely a place that I would go to visit again and I definitely recommend it! If we were within a couple of hours of this store we would definitely make a trip back there often- the prices were fair and the unique assortment of items definitely was a fun treasure hunt experience that we had!
......RECRAFT CREATIVE REUSE CENTER SHOP INFORMATION......
LOCATION:
San Francisco, California
2150 Newcomb Ave, San Francisco, CA 94124
HOURS FOR SHOPPING:
Closed Mondays
Tuesday-Sundays: 10am-6pm
TYPE OF SHOP:
Total craft experience: numerous items for crafting/mixed media/lots of different projects and types of creating and creating art of any and all kind
YEAR OPENED:
*oldest creative reuse shop in the United States*
1976 - read history HERE
MISSION:
(taken from their website)
SCRAPs mission to inspire creativity and environmental stewardship in children and adults through promoting the creative reuse of materials that traditionally have been discarded as waste.
KEY DISTINCTIVES:
*Oldest Creative Reuse shop in the United States
*Free Parking (a key thing for San Francisco)
*Restrooms for Staff and Public
*Loading Dock for donated materials
*HUGE warehouse
COST:
Compared to other shops we have tried and visited, the prices were fair even compared to shops around the country that exist in other large and expensive cities. I should also note that there was bargaining allowed there. I had found a huge roll of ribbon that I really loved and asked if a few dollars could be knocked off it which was quickly accepted. I heard others asking similar things and asking for a few dollars off of some items appeared to be an accepted practice.
PARKING:
There is a free parking lot, free street parking, and close proximity to a public garage.
CROWDED?:
It was busy, but plenty of space for shopping.
DISABILITY /CHRONIC ILLNESS FRIENDY?:
Absolutely yes. There is a ramp to get in, and while some aisles were narrow, a wheelchair could fit through although there were some spaces that it could be difficult due to the creative displays.
Thank you so much for reading today friends! Please let me know if you have any questions about Creative Reuse Shops or SCRAP! I am happy to answer and can't wait to hear about your creative reuse shop adventures! And again, if you would like to read about other Creative Reuse Shops that I have written about on the blog click HERE or click on the links below:
Have a wonderful day friends!
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