I am grieving at the closure of the North Face.. Having worked there during the time of its…read morebeginnings and the height of its popularity, I really hate to see it go. My salary, though, minimal, allowed me to live in the area while I was going to graduate school at Uc Berkeley. . The outlet was on sixth Street and was, at first, an outlet only, whereas the main stores were across the Bay Area. The initial retail on telegraph Avenue was where I worked. It was the best possible experience for me at the time. I spent nearly every weekend camping in the Sierras or cross country skiing as the company loaned equipment to employees in order for them to be able to better describe the items to customers. So long ago, it was still safe for a woman to go on such adventures solo. That company was the basis for so many other outdoor companies similar to this. Patagonia, Marmot Mountain Works, etc. Hap Klopp was president during those early days and very true to his love of of the outdoors. I The closures were in response to robbery so, I have to hand it to the people repelling into the store in order to make a burglary. At least they were true to the underpinnings of the North Face being connecting with the outdoors. Obvious irony.

RiP. I will miss you. Please consider opening somewhere else. This has been the iconic store to…read morego . Sorry for the burglary news.

Great service, knowledge and a friendly shop! Even made my wife comfortable with me spending too…read moremuch money :)

I walked in to Fish First in early August to ask what I'd need to get started fly fishing for…read moremountain trout. Four days later, I was catching brook trout in the Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra; two weeks later, the same thing, in the Trinity Alps! The guy I spoke with---whose name I don't remember, tragically---was extremely helpful and patient, never giving me the hard sell (even though I wanted to buy stuff!), showing me some of the basics, and directing me towards the right beginner gear (and a beginner instructional book) to buy.

This isn't your typical REI storefront - it specifically offers high quality rental equipment for…read moreall kinds of outdoor activities! These include kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, and road/mountain/e-biking.  Our inflatable kayak was incredibly durable and slid along the water smoothly. Staff also provided us with individually sized paddles, life vests, pump, and kayak attachments - all of which conveniently fit within a portable gear bag (with WHEELS!) The interior felt spacious with bright and welcoming relaxed workers. Great service. Highly recommend this REI to anyone looking for reliable gear for their next outdoor activity!

Signed up for kids bike class, which out of this location is pretty tough to get into. They…read morecanceled with very short notice. Hey, stuff happens...but why not help get people you canceled on into a future class, e.g. advanced warning before a class is opened up to register? Nothing doing, just got a sassy reply when I inquired. OK... Signed up for waitlist for next sessions. Got a notification that a couple spots opened up, tried 3x to register and their site kept crashing the chrome browser on my phone on the payment step then it was full. Gah... Never had such an issue, I use my phone for such things all the time. So they've got a bug, likely with auto-complete and/or security on payment flow. Took the time to take a screen video showing the bug (easily reproduced), uploaded to YT, shared with them. Asked if anything they can do, still would love to participate in this class. Nope, just told me it's my fault and zero offer to help make this happen. Pretty poor customer service and frustrating experience.

I came in for a boot and boot fitting as my old boots were completely worn out (prior to the…read more'24/'25 season). I've gotten accustomed to skiing in pain over my 40+ years of skiing, and previous boot fittings never quite yielded the results i wanted. I have odd shaped feet - like a cartoon duck. narrow in the back and wide and square at the toes. high volume boots never quite fit right as they would still be narrow at the toes, but then way too loose in the back with a lot of heel lift. thermal liners never seemed to solve any of my problems. punches seemed to help, but never remove the problem. enter Paul. this man is a gift sent from the goddess Skadi. He assured me my feet weren't that far out of band, and proceeded to tweak the best fitting boot i've ever used. I can go a full day charging with minimal discomfort. i dont have to undo the buckles every lift ride up. i wanted to wait out the season before i gave a review as I wanted to see how well the results held up over several days, but the 5 stars is well warranted. i've decided to try learning telemark this season, and finding any boot has been extremely difficult. there are not many models, and even fewer stock of said models, whether used or new. but once i find a boot, you can be sure i'll be bringing it to Paul (who claims to have never fitted a telemark boot, but i'm going to convince him to give it a go).

I'm shocked this company is top rated and people recommend it…read more I came for their expertise to choose the best boots for my feet. During the painful thermo fitting procedure I told many times it feels wrong and too narrow. They told me "hang on, I know what I'm doing, you have super narrow feet and we have only one boot model that will fit you right". I had no choice but to trust and paid more than $1000. Every time I wear these boots, I tell myself I'm switching back to a snowboard. My feet get numb as soon as I put the boots on even without buckling up. After a dozen of painful rides I returned and they did another fitting of the same boots. It didn't help. Now I'm sitting in a ski rental with amazing comfortable boots on my feet and think how much I hate California Ski Company for ripping me off and creating so many problems and waste of time.

Soccer Post is the BOMB!!! We love this place. Everyone is super helpful, professional and super…read morenice. They always have what we're looking for; cleats, bags, coaches supplies, etc. I highly recommend this place if you're a player or coach.

Pretty good selection of shoes and clothes and other equipment. For the small toddles, which I came…read morefor, was limited but I think that's gonna be everyone. Like the turf area they have by the shoes. Clearly for trying on shoes and getting a true feeling of your cleats on turf

Customer service is the best. Owner is very helpful and…read morelets you take the time to browse and compare. Offers sharpening services and a wide variety of knives. I have ordered items not in the store and they ensured they got them to the store for me in a quick manner. Didn't sit in things for weeks and wait to call the distributor. Handled things immediately and quickly keeping me on track.

had knives sharpened here a few years ago and don't recall leaving a recommendation. they did a…read moregreat job on my German and Japanese knives! professional, informative, and prompt/ quick turnaround. highly recommend.

Foot Locker at El Cerrito Plaza was good. I never expected to see a Foot Locker that wasn't inside…read morea mall. With the closure of Hilltop Mall seeing a Foot Locker took me back. The inside of the store is amazing. A lot of great selection to chose from. I gotten service right away when I came inside the store. I love the selection of shoes that were in stock. Reasonable price for shoes with great customer service.

Pros: well-stocked sizes…read more Cons: The employees here just don't care and offer no customer service. The store don't have a shoe measure so can't help you size your shoes. They don't have any knowledge about the various shoes or whether the toe size is accurate. They gave us a pair of unlaced shoes to try on and didn't even help lace them. Come here if you already know what you want and just need a pickup but don't expect any real knowledge or help you'd get from other stores.

Really good rode the demo bike on good ride and took a lot of time explaining all the features…read more When picking up bike went through all the features and helped log into the ap feature. Nice to have such good service from a real person. Not cheap but a good quality purchase and experience

I always find the service at the New Wheel to be a very pleasant experience. Everyone is very…read moreknowledgeable and professional - and I always know the work they do is top notch. I really rely on their expertise and advice on what my bike. needs and don't feel like they are taking advantage of an old woman who loves her bike! For those of you who have never tried it, I HIGHLY recommend getting an ebike to explore the many beautiful spots in Marin County. And now with the addition of bike trails thanks to the SMART train, we have even MORE places to enjoy on our bikes.