Currents
Categories: Children's Clothing, Kitchen & Bath [Edit]
Neighborhood: Mission911 Valencia St
(between 20th St & Liberty St)
San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 648-2015
- Hours:
Tue-Thu 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 12:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sun 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
45 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
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36 Reviews for Currents
I was excited about this store and did some excited shopping, which usually means that I buy a bunch of stuff then get a purchasing hangover. Anyway, this time I got home and realized that the cute little hand-knit baby hat made out of organic cotton that just surely was made by someone in San Francisco--or at the least, the East Bay--was actually made in China.
So I felt a little cheated.
Like discovering that Beck is a Scientologist.
I wish I had been able to stop by Currents when I was Christmas shopping for the babies in my life (none of which are mine, thank you!). No baby's wardrobe should only consist of ridiculously expensive boutique clothing like $20 booties or $30 onesies, but a special oh-so-cute item from Currents to go along w/ the breast pump for new mama's baby shower would be perfect. I was loving these 6-12 mo. footie pajamas with a front pouch and stuffed baby kangaroo, but seriously, baby will wear that once for a pic for Auntie Mimz and that's it...so that was a no go.
Only the tiny front section of the store makes up the baby section. The rest is filled with bath accessories, aromatherapy, etc., but I don't care too much about smelling good or looking clean. They also have a bunch of cute patterned scarves, purses, and wallets that were affordable.
Best of all, Currents carries Zoo Beans (http://www.zoobeans.com/), beanies created by my old coworker/friend, Willis W!
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I was standing outside Currents the other day when two woman walked by. One said "Oo! Let's check this out." The other, "No, it's just baby stuff."
It's true, there's a lot of baby stuff in the display window. BUT, Currents is FAR from a baby or children's store. There's actually a random variety of fun things, but it is mostly a bath store. Tons of bath bombs, salts, oils, smelly candles, soaps, lotions, etc. There's even a fairly large section of bath stuff for men with very masculine aftershave and old fashioned shaving kits.
A few of the other random treasures one could find in Currents: baby stuff, stationary, jewelery, beautiful scarves, bags, asian tableware, plants.
This is my go-to store for all kinds of gifts for all kinds of people in my life. And if you want, the people that work there will gift wrap your items for free in a really beautiful way.
So don't be fooled by the display window. It's totally worth a look around inside.
One of my all-time favorite person called me yesterday and left me three messages in the morning. I thought maybe he had some pressing gossip as we know many many people in common. During my lunch hour, I called him, and we spent approximately thirty minutes on gossip. And then he says: We are having a baby.
Now, at my age, friends having children is no big deal, even for someone like me where the great majority of my friends forgot to get married while pursuing other interests in life. But this is one of my favorite persons. Simply put, I have no reservations about him as a human being. There is never a "but" when I describe him to my other friends. I just say, He is one of my all-time favorite people. And as such, him and his wife having a child and raising a child reaffirms my faith that the world will continue in goodness, honesty, and common decency (you might think that I am stretching here, but you haven't met my friend).
I was meandering through the mall, looking for something for the baby to be born to my all-time favorite person. And then realized it was all wrong. I need something more intimate, more cuddly.
Currents has some of the coziest warmest little sweaters and plushest blankets for infants, not to mention the snuggliest stuffed little animals. I am trying to figure out how much to buy and which ones to buy. So many cute little things to choose from. Come here when you too need a gift to greet a baby properly into the world.
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Surprising!
We almost walked right by, but my sister needed a white elephant gift so we stopped in.
Great selection of baby stuff, candles, soaps, and japanese products. There was this great t-shirt of a cat riding a vespa that I thought about buying. Instead, I bought a pair of handmade silver earrings. A popular selection, I was told, and made by someone name BOE in NYC.
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This place rocks because...
*You can smell its yumminess from a block away
*You'll find perfect, unique gifts when you're not quite sure what to buy
*You can endlessly browse without anyone hassling you
*When you do have questions, the staff is very helpful
*The space is neat and organized (even though there are a gazillion different things in here)
*The prices are very reasonable and aren't super inflated
*Many of their items are nicely pre-wrapped
*Steven and I have purchased things ranging from fish shaped hot water bottles to Japanese cast iron tea pots
*It's a nice little get-away spot from the usual hustle & bustle of Valencia Street
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I really love this store. Not only does it smell wonderful inside and have tons of yummy soaps/scrubs/etc., but there are tons of cool, unique products like vases, scarves, and picture frames. For example... I found a great handbag there today by an SF artist. Great gifts as well, for all budgets budget.
I'd recommend coming here when you have plenty of time to poke around. Friendly, non-intrusive staff. Make sure to check out the cool soaps - I love the frog one!
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What a great little store! Currents has lots of great items, for children and for adults. It's not cramped, but definitely full of stuff. There's the front room, which is full of bath things and slippers and all kinds of neat trinkets, and then there's the back room, which is slightly more formal and fancy. Currents is a great place to buy gifts for yourself or for others--I particularly love the magnet selection! Koala magnets for me!
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Fuzzy animal slippers. In many different varieties: monkeys (see photo), pigs, turtles, giraffes, puppies, ducks, cats, bunnies, & froggies. Warm plush hats for mom and baby, perhaps even dad. Make sure to hit up the corner in the immediate right when you enter the store.
A great shoppe for lovers of cute overload.
i love stopping in here when i'm in the neighborhood and want to do some shopping! they have a neat selection of natural skin care, soaps, local made gifts and even unique baby items. they also carry bulk lavender, roses and other great scents, i love stocking up on those things when making handmade soap, or just using it for freshening up the house. the owners and staff are always so nice and willing to help you find what your looking for. everytime I've been in has been a treat!
I love little knick knacks and I love this store. I could spend alot of time in this store shopping for things that I probably dont need. Anyway, they have really cool stuff here: bath salts, scarfs, jewelry, baby gifts and tea sets. I enjoy the fact that the owners will gift wrap your purchase (very traditional Japanese style) I dont come too often but one thing that I did notice was that their products arent updated very often,
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Not too long ago, I rolled out of bed hungover, the victim of the Latin American Club's lethal margaritas. Having crashed at a friend's place on Valenica, we stumbled out the door, headed toward Bugaloo's to soak up the alcohol. Head pounding, spitting cotton, stomach churning, my devil-red eyes took in the mucky grey asphalt of the inner Mission.
Then I came upon the best creation in the world, aside from a time machine where I could time travel reverse the sin of too much tequila the previous night. Delicate lavendar and jasmine emitted from a gentle, tranquil storefront. I went inside and drank in an emporium of potpopurri, bath salts and bombs, wonderful smelly lotions and creams, and candles. Calgon take me away. I covered my bloodshot eyes with a lavender eyemask and started to lay down in the middle of the store.
My equally hungover and grouchy companion nudged me, wanted to get her breakfast on. Until later, Currents. I'll definitely be back.
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One Sunday morning I was walking down Valencia tryna mind my own business with my friend, and I was wearing some nasty ol flip flops. We just rolled outta bed to hang out.
So then as we were walking one of those PG&E barricade things was knocked over on the ground in front of us. What do I do? BAM! Walk right into it like a dumbass. Blood starts spewing all over my toe everywhere. My friend starts laughing and she's all "jesus jessie wtf?!"
Run into a coffee shop, they say they don't got a bathroom, but walk a few doors down to the frame shop, tell them you bought some coffee and they sent you in there for the bathroom. So all of a sudden I'm sitting in the bathroom of a frame shop trying to clean up my foot in the sink with some papertowels thinking "where on earth am i exactly right now? what am i doing? what the fuck"
Alright sheeeit. I need a band-aid. So we run across the street into a little bath shop called Currents. Oh yes. And the little guy and girl working hooked me up with a box of band aids and a cozy little bathroom. Thank godddddddd! Jeez.
Now now. While in this shop I noticed all the little tea cups and candles and purses and such, but it's those got dang bath bombs. GO FOR THE BATH BOMBS. they're these little ice cream scoops of bath stuff, and when you drop it in the tub it explodes like a bomb. soak in that mess for 20 min once a week, and your skin will constantly be in a state of baby ass-ness.
I go back on Sundays and buy them like 6 at a time. And they wrap them with little bows for me.
So yes. A bloody mess ended a sudsy success.
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I am in love with this store. Never mind that a lot of this stuff I buy only as gifts or for purposes of self-indulgence...cuz you know what? There's nothing wrong with a little bit of self-indulgence, at least twice a day. And it's a happy place just to walk around in. Really beautiful stuff, great ceramics and candles. The best part is all the pre-wrapped gifts...despite the fact that it's wrapped even if I just want it for myself. Because hey, if no one else is getting me flowers and chocolates, I might as well get kick-ass gift packs for myself...
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I LOVE this store. I go there for all of my face/bath products and also for any and every gift I need: wedding,baby shower, birthday... you name it! And everything is already wrapped!! Just grab a box and you have an instant present.
Definitely ignore the 2 star review below from the person who has never even been there.
Stop by next time you are in the mission- I recommend it to everyone I know.
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A great little store full of interesting things. The quality gift wrapping they provide is an extra nice touch. I agree with Amy that they could charge twice as much, but don't tell owners that! I found something for my sister, my mom, and my best friend here without even trying. Support this local shop instead of some national chain. You're sure to find something unique.
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OMG I love this store. They have so much fun useless crap. We have a friend who always got the BEST gifts for us so we finally pinned her down and tickle tortured her (yes we were in our underwear, what of it?) until she agreed to take us.
And she did.
And I bought a lot of wicked cute useless crap (I highly recommend the little guys that are made from ONE CONTINUOUS PIECE OF STRING - so fricking cute), and now everyone else wants to know about this secret shop where I get my cute gifts.
And yes, I will only tell them where it is under penalty of tickle torture.
Seriously, if you need a gift for someone and have no idea what to get them, I bet you can find something here that's perfect. Uh, especially if they have female parts (or are just waiting for the financing to come through).
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Update: yeah, so I got the Italian leather bag and I love it! I noticed they also have some nice scarves as well.
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A lot of fun bath stuff and children's things - bath slippers, tooth fairy pillow, ugly dolls, etc. They also have nice tea sets and other things as well. Am very tempted by the slick recycled Italian leather bags in the back. A great place to get some nice gifts or pamper yourself.
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I love walking by this store because it smells like a lavender field right in the middle of the Mission. For a moment, I am transported to Provence, with a warm spring breeze and serenity all around me. Then I come to, and there is a guy with his guitar belting out some faintly recognizable rock song.
At any rate, I've picked up numerous gifts for friends and family here. Tons of bath salts, lotions, essential oils, and baby gifts. If I had a baby, I would LOVE to get some of the cute onesies and slippers they have here. I also bought my man some organic foot scrub since he is on his feet all day and they need some TLC. He absolutely LOVES it. Plus, it doesn't even smell girlie, so he can still feel manly while pumice-ing and exfoliating his feet. I warned him that the next step is the pedicure, but he still swears he never will .....must.......break him....down........
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Come Christmas time the back opens up and stocking stuffer heaven! Their bath salts are the best... my fave is the Green Tea Bath. Candles are very nice too. My absolute fave part of this store... the attention to detail they put into wrapping gifts.
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This is always a fun store to stop into. They have a lot of playful baby and kids clothes and toys, perfect for gift-giving. Currents is probably best known for their bath products and lotions, candles too, but in their back room you can find some nice and relatively inexpensive Japanese bowls, sushi sets, and the like.
Make sure to get a frequent shopper card, it can fill up more quickly than you realize!
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I'm going to write a review for this place because unlike a lot of stores in the Mission (or anywhere in SF, for that matter) that sell cute, fragrant mind/body items, this place does NOT inflate their prices to make as much profit as they can. In fact, I heard the owner talking about why they try to keep their prices down when I was browsing through their notebooks, soaps and ceramic dishes. I will definitely be coming back here around christmas to do some shopping.
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Don't know where to start on shopping for your; a) friends' new kid(s), b) new and/or wannabe girl, c) stinky hippy friend that will only bathe provided the ingredients have been organically harvested during a solstice?
Well, you've come to the right place. This well-run little store has great service and a very cool collection of artistic soaps, candles, tea sets, wraps, children's books, kids' hats that look like animals (I bought the monkey for me, chicken for my niece, frog for nephew), etc., etc. Plus, they package them up in interesting, reasonably priced bundles that make guys like appear sensitive to the opposite sex. Hell, the gift packaging alone will get you laid.
Seriously though, really nice folks here with good products. Worth a look or three.
Another neighborhood fave. Went there last week and picked up a pair of frog slippers for xmas for my daughter. Nice people working there and good selection of unique and not-so-unique gifts and such at very reasonable local merchant prices. Free gift wrapping!
Currents is my new favorite neighborhood store. They have everything I love for pampering myself and it's a great gift store!
They have a variety of goodies:
-bath salts, herbal bath bags, candles, massage oil, herbal/fun soaps, candle holders
-great GIFT BOXES!!! they have pre-made gift boxes or you can put one together yourself. they are really good at wrapping! everything is super pretty!
-cute fuzzy slippers (I got a pair of giraffe ones myself)
-baby stuff
-scarves & bags
-jewelry
-cute japanese little thingys
-journals, letter sets, notebooks
-teapot sets with cups, chopsticks, authentic japanese tea in beautiful containers, jewelry boxes
and the list goes on...
The prices are reasonable and the best part is - they don't bother you when you are browsing!!! I spent over an hour walking back and forth trying to figure out a present for a friend and they just let me do my thing. I walked out with a great present and was a very satisfied customer!
They also have a frequent buyer program. You get a stamp for every $5 you spend and at the end you get a $15 gift certificate.
Highly recommend this store for all the girlies out there! Come here to treat yourself - you'll find something fun for sure!
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A neat small store that is a bit difficult to categorize. What ever they have was unque and interesting. Many items with Asian theme. Their Japanese plates were pretty cool and inexpensive.
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A place to buy sweet smelling things for sweet smelling ladies. A surprisingly inviting yet small space is layed out with soaps, candles, gels, lotions, and bath crystals. The gentlemen who rang me up was friendly and knowledgable and mentioned that the smell of citrus is good for studying.
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One stop holiday shopping! The owners of this place are amazingly nice and carefully gift wrap anything you buy. If you know anyone who would like some beautiful handmade teacups or sushi/ sake sets, this is the place to go. They could be charging double for all of this stuff. I bought a tea set with four cups for $20, which came pristinely wrapped in a gift package!! Also....they have every Burt's Bees product known to man.
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Though it might be categorized as a bed and bath shop, this place is much more. It's not as odd as Paxton Gate down the street, but it is much more reasonably priced without being a discount place. Their gift wrapping is a decided plus of this place for gifts, especially if you're taking them out of town and want to give people a sense of SF flare.
The staff is pleasant but sometimes a bit odd, in a good way all the same.
All the marvelous sweet-smelling herbal bath and pamper-yourself stuff you could dream of, along with selected plants, jewelery, books, handmade gifty things and cutesy bath duckies. A perfect place to buy gifts for your new age-y friends.
you can smell this place from over a block away, and it always seems to be open (even if you're bar hopping down valencia). full of frilly bath things you probably don't need, but refreshingly out of place with the rest of the surrounding businesses.
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i love getting soaps and candles from here, and their ceramic gift boxes make great unexpected presents!
and if you shop for others often, you'll also get a frequent buyer reward card, as an expected present for yourself! :)
I did my Xmas shopping here yesterday. I just knew the owners had to be Japanese. So many of the products are from Japan, and they offer free gift wrapping! Beautifully done too! I bought some cute animal hats for children. Definitely recommend going there for either children's gifts or gifts for bath and relaxation or tea sets.
Girly girl's paradise. Ton of soaps, candles, classy gifts and the cutest store dog ever.
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this is the ultimate gift store for my girlfriends and myself :) birthdays, bachelorettes, christmas, just because - i never fail to find a little something special and this pleasant-smelling shop that sells predominantly bath products. however, it's the other 30% of merchandise that soothes away the stress of that i-have-to-buy-a-present-by-tonight feeling.
much of the merchandise is asian-inspired: simple japanese plates and sake glasses, bamboo plants in pretty vases, tea mugs, and herbal remedies. they also have a charming collection of colorful, handmade scarves, modestly-priced jewelry, unusual frames, and furry animal slippers.
recently, they just opened up a back room and seem to be fast increasing their selection of merchandise. the folks who work there are kind and engaging, making it an inspiration for return visits.
fabulous, plush slippers to wear around the house!
bunnies, turtles, lady bugs, oh my!
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