Glitter, feathers, flouescent paint and animal prints, no--it's not the CAstro Street fair it's Mendel's on Haight - an art party in every visit.  $25 Gift Certificate

Located smack dab in the middle of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, we're the starting place for many of the artists, designers, costumers, quilters, and hippie hopefuls. Our staff is made up of people who use the materials we sell. Some of us sell the stuff we make and others of us just dabble in this, that or the other thing in hopes of staying out of trouble. We strive to help our customers attain their artistic goals (although sometimes its really difficult to figure out exactly what that goal is!) and spur the imaginations of every person who walks through our door.

To that end, we offer to you our web site, our know-how, and our slightly-skewed perspective to help you get where you want to be as far as your arts, crafts and sewing goes! It's only an idea, and we don't have all of the answers....but it's a start and we think that's better than nothing!

"What are you doing on the web?" you ask. We're here for a bunch of reasons.

• Everybody else is doing it.... (ok maybe that's not a great reason)


• We want to encourage people to be creative. Maybe something we say, or an idea will get you started on that project you have been meaning to do for years. Creativity is healthy.


• If you are planning a trip to San Francisco, we thought it would be nice for you to be able to plan which stores you want to visit. Hopefully, you will put us on that list.


• We have stuff to sell. We are an independent retailer and want to encourage you to visit your local independents. But we realize that some of you may live in places where your options are limited. So, if you need something, and we have it, we are more than happy to sell it to you.

Here are some of the most popular parts of our website. Grouped by kind of product (since we are a couple of stores rolled into one!)