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Mai Do - San Francisco

4.2 (328 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 6:30 pm
Updated 1 month ago

Services - Mai Do - San Francisco

Cards and stationery

Gift shops

Mai Do - San Francisco Photos

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1-4-25. Other merchandise
Lloyd C.

Mai Do is a great stationary and fine gifts store located on the 2nd floor of Kinokuniya Mall in Japantown. Driving up from San Jose with friends, whenever we visited JTown, I always stopped into this store. Fine pens & markers, origami, fine stationary, cute stuffed animals, etc.

Such a cute little shop in the mall
Taylor S.

We enjoyed this shop so much that we went back again two days in a row! I got two stickers for my water bottle. My partner enjoyed looking at the pens. We also got a card for our hosts here in SF and I got an adorable set of tiny cards with a cat on them. Service was kind and prompt, store was well organized. Thank you!

Arts
Dianna W.

This is a stationary and gift store inside Japan town . Downstairs is the gift shop and upstairs is the pens and stationery shop . I am writing about the downstairs. It is packed with cute things . Key chains , rocks , toys , characters, arts and crafts in all kinds of materials, animals and figures . It is pricey. Simple acrylic key chain is $15 or more . They are all SO CUTE! I got tow miffy pins , a ceramic coaster with San Francisco theme , a lip gloss that smell like strawberry and in a strawberry case . Some marbles with see through graphic and has that magical look ! I love so many things inside . Would come back whenever I can !

Ricca Cathrina E.

So much cool stuff! What's more awesome is the staff members are consistently helpful and friendly. Kids love stopping by to look around and buy cute cool things. The quality of their goods justifies the price.

I was overcharged $9.15 each for four pends I bought yesterday. Compare to 4 months ago I bought $3.95
Mark B.

I have been going here to get my pens for over 10 years, and they were great. I had a great experience. Not until Sunday was I overcharged. I didn't go back to the store. I live like 1hr away The last time I bought a pen was last October. The price was $3.95 each, and yesterday, I was charged $9.15. Is there a tariff on pens? Below is the pic of same pen I bought 4 months ago so I took a pic , vs the pen I bought yesterday there was no price they just added the price in the cash register So now I have to be careful next time I visit this store

pen & ink with journal
Patrick B.

This store is what retail used to be. I've never been much of a pen guy, I have typed everything since college. But over the last six months, I've started writing in a journal. It's a sensual experience-the paper journal and the pen itself are a big part of it. I started with a disposable fountain pen from Zebra, and it was actually pretty good. But I wanted a treat. I went yesterday and one of their staff walked me through fountain pen basics. They showed me different nibs, and different weights. He carefully avoided upselling me, though I was entirely open to it. He connected me with a Kaweko extra fine nib. When I got home, I realized that the pen was difficult to write more than a page with. I went back today, and another staff person went through the whole thing with me. He exchanged the pen I bought yesterday for a pen with a slightly larger nib and with "wetter" ink. Amazing. I've just written a few pages, and it's perfect. More than the quality of the stuff, I want to emphasize the quality of the service. Before everything was sold online, retail was often a pleasurable experience. Salespeople often were deep nerds in the thing they were selling. I trusted them because they really enjoyed the thing: outdoor gear, audio equipment, music, specialty foods. There are still a few places like this (hardware stores, I'm lookin at you). Mai Do is absolutely in this category. I'll be back, and I intend to bring out-of-town friends.

book nooks for sale
Jaimee Rose A.

this place is like victim of consumerism final boss. there's a lot of random cute stuff in here, probs a lot of stuff you will never need but i like it. just be careful when you walk in bc you can buy one thing and leave 50 dollars poorer. they have calico critters and booknooks and cards and envelopes and stationary etc. in my opinion some of the items can be overpriced, do your research unless you don't care about overspending. the worker at the front is nice. the paper bags are 10 cents. honestly the stuff in here is cute and i always walk in even just to window shop whenever im in japantown. the only thing is it can start to get super busy and crowded to the point where people are just bumping into you/blocking everything. therefore i would suggest coming earlier in the day.

Front entrance.
Cecilia M.

Wow! This tiny store packs in a LOT of goodies from Asia. My favourite section though must be the PENS. They have the latest and biggest selection of pens from Japan. My favourite ones by Zebra -- the Blen pen -- comes in all sizes and colours here! Never seen some of the styles before! Most other places only carry the black and white bodies in 0.7 size. But here they have a lot of 0.5 in various colours! Prices are for most products are average and competitive to other shops. This is a great place to find gifts for stationery lovers!

Regina C.

Oooo this place was dangerous for me. They had so many cute little trinkets that would make me empty my wallet instantaneously. My friend got me my very first Miffy here! She is cute and will be planning on getting her more clothes (another expense under my belt). Definitely coming back here to treat myself when I'm in SF!

Storefront of Mai Do (upstairs)
Deb C.

Cute shop! Bought Minecraft things for my kids. Nice selection of goods. Will bring friends when next in town.

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Workers were very nice and helpful. There were so many cute things to see and it was so hard to choose. Prices were reasonable.

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Ask the Community - Mai Do - San Francisco

Are they open?

Hi! Yes, all Kinokuniya USA and Mai Do stores are open. Please check here for business hours: https://usa.kinokuniya.com/store-locations

View All 5 Questions

Review Highlights - Mai Do - San Francisco

Kinokuniya stocks a curated collection of the cutest Japanese stationary, origami paper, and notebooks.

Mentioned in 36 reviews

Read more highlights

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