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Best New Year's Day Sales In San Francisco

Macy's San Francisco Union Square (credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

If you're not already all shopped out or sleeping in on New Year's Day, a signature San Francisco shopping experience may appeal more than another trip to the mall. It's one of the few holidays when the parking meters are also on a break -- parking is free all day. What's open and what's closed on New Year's Day is a mixed bag, and hours may vary if staff oversleep. After all, it's a federal holiday.

SF SPCA Holiday Windows At Macy's
170 O'Farrell St.
Union Square
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 522-3500
www.sfspca.org

Press your nose against the glass where a very special sale is taking place. In partnership with San Francisco's SPCA, for the 29th consecutive year, adorable, adoptable cats and dogs are the stars of Macy's holiday windows at Union Square through Jan. 3, 2016. If you can take one home, visit the SF SPCA pop-up shop inside the store. These pets come free of adoption fees during the Christmas adoption drive and each has been medically screened, vaccinated, microchipped and spayed or neutered. Last year's Holiday Windows saw 267 pets adopted.

Pier 39 Shops
Beach St. and The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94119
www.pier39.com

Sign up online for "Local Advantage," a collection of 50 percent discount coupons good through 1/31/2016 for Bay Area residents presented by the retailers of Pier 39. You'll find whale sightseeing tours, bay cruises, Alcatraz merchandise, ice cream and even parking discounts. On New Year's Day, San Francisco's big tourist attraction has shop hours listed as 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. A variety of shops at Pier 39 sell everything a visitor -- or a local playing tourist -- could need, from cameras to souvenirs such as cable car charms and SF-branded sweatshirts and caps. There's still a few days to enjoy Pier 39's 60-foot Christmas tree.

Shops At Ghirardelli Square
900 North Point St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 775-5500
www.ghirardellisq.com

Not just for tourists anymore, reasons (such as wine and sweet things) keep on mounting for locals to want to go to Ghirardelli Square. Among the latest additions are the newest locations for Bluxome Street Winery and Le Marais Bakery, adding to the lineup that includes Wattle Creek WInery and signature Ghirardelli Chocolate outposts. Les Mechantes opened this past autumn, a favorite lifestyle brand incorporating fashion, accessories and the home. New Year's Day offers a chance to take a last look at the 51st annual Ghirardelli Christmas tree.

de Young Museum gift shop

de Young Museum Gift Shop
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-3642
www.shop.famsf.org

The first day of the year is a lovely day for a walk in Golden Gate Park. Visit the sculpture garden, cafe and gift shop at the de Young Museum, free of admission even if you're not visiting the collection. Find the unusual, check out the exclusives, browse the books, posters, prints, museum reproductions and jewelry in the two-level shop. Members of San Francisco Fine Art Museums always receive a 10 percent discount here and at the Legion of Honor Gift Shop throughout the year. There are always some items on sale, and every purchase directly supports the museums. Both fine art museums are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Chinatown after dark, San Francisco

Shopping In Chinatown
Grant Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94108

When you think about it, the year 2016 is no big deal compared to the year 4714 (the Year of the Monkey), a cause for celebration at the start of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 9, 2016. On Jan. 1, shops are open in North America's oldest Chinatown, where colorful lanterns are hung across the main thoroughfare of Grant Avenue. Spend a delightful day browsing Chinese clothes, accessories, silk slippers and robes, gifts, knacks, jewelry, linens and all sorts of Asian imports on display before tucking into a great meal in a Chinese restaurant.

Laurie Jo Miller Farr loves walkable cities. A tourism industry professional and transplanted New Yorker by way of half-a-lifetime in London, she's writing about the best of the bay and beyond for Bay City Guide, AXS, Examiner and more. Examiner.com.


 

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