Best Place to Buy Almost Everything

Mendel's Art Supplies started out in 1968 as mainly a house-paint store. Since then it's diversified -- really diversified. If you fail to find what you need at a San Francisco bike shop, hardware store, art store, fabric shop, stationery store, or toy store, the clerk is likely to send you to Mendel's, which bills itself as specializing in eccentric costume wear, one-of-a-kind fabrics, and artists' goods. But it's also supply central for any San Franciscan in a mood to create, or repair, something funky.