Stores, Malls or Markets in San Jose

Barnes & Noble bookstore in San Jose seems to be in middle of nothing, at least from an European perspective. It is located next to car dealers and other semi-industrial stores.

The best way to get to the store is take a car. You can also walk from Santana Row, if you are not afraid of walking more than a mile.

The bookstore is quite typical Barnes & Noble store; well stocked and comparatively inexpensive (at least with the current currency rates). My personal favourite section is photography technique that has far more books than in my local shops.

Phillips Gallery of Fine Art is, as name implies, an art gallery specialising to contemporary American arts. The gallery is located on Santana Row area, next to Gucci and Burberry stores, so prepare for hefty pricetags.

The gallery has a good collection of paintings from various artists. Most of the works are oil paintings, but other techniques are used, too. They stock surprisingly many sculptures. The collection of glass sculptures is also spectacular. Their homepage has a lot of images of the artwork.

Camper is a Spanish brand that sells very positive looking shoes. You just cannot be unhappy while having Camper shoes on -- unless they are of wrong size.

The Camper store is located near the middle of Santana Row area. The smallish shop provides the whole selection of Camper shoes. The shoes are laid out in a table in the middle and thus the cramped feeling of cheaper shoestores is avoided.

The shoes are not the cheapest, but you pay for quality and Spanish design.

Santana Row is an excellent area to get rid of your money and exceed all credit card limits. Gucci is one of the excellent choices for limitless spending opportunities.

The Gucci shop on Santana Row is very airy and the staff is extremely helpful and attentive, as they should be in stores with such pricetags. As usual with these stores, the ratio between the number of garments and square feets is rather small.

You either like Gucci style or then you hate it. Hopefully your taste matches with the limits of your wallet. Otherwise, try to avoid temptations of the store.

Crate & Barrel is a good place to buy mid-priced furniture and small items to your home. The stuff is not top-notch design, but they are not made from the cardboard, either.

If you are travelling, you may not be able to buy a sofa and squeeze it to your suitcase, but the store is still worth a visit. The selection of vases and other smaller items is almost exhaustive and the prices are not bad.

Crate & Barrel stocks also Marimekko fabrics, so if you are fancy of Finnish design, go and check their offerings.

Indigo Palms is a casual clothing brand for both women and men, "Men's and women's denim for island living". The smallish store is located almost in the middle of the Santana Row shopping area in San Jose.

The clothes are quite bland and you can get similar garments from much cheaper stores, such as H&M or GAP. Or if you would like to follow the trends, go to Diesel or Urban Outfitters instead.

Urban Outfitters is an excellent place to buy both clothes and items for home, if you like their young and trendy style.

The ground floor has big selection of garments for women and the upper floor is dedicated to men clothing and furnishing. There is also a small selection of books upstairs.

The shop is especially strong in T-shirts that come in different colours and styles. Most of the shirts have some sort of graphic image or a punchline printed, so do not expect to find anything plain.

If you have browsed all the boutiques on Santana Row, and still have some money left on your wallet, go over Stevens Creek Boulevard to Westfield mall and spent the rest there.

The mall has two department stores: Macy's and Nordstrom to begin with, and between these giants are over hundred specialty store. These stores cater most parts of life, so there is no need to go anywhere else.

As usual, there is also a foodcourt -- this time on the second floor. If you looking for any better meal, go back to Santana Row.