Gaslight & Shadows Antiques

Last time I checked (over 1 year ago) the store was unfortunately gone.

Great little antique shop on a busy section of Clement St. The owner is clearly passionate about her shop and customers, giving her full attention to each customer. Got a great deal on a bracelet and earrings, she sold them at less than the sticker price and I didn’t even ask for a deal! Plus she gift-​wraps! Tons of items here for antique hunters and browsers, alike.

Adorable place!!! The shop owner is funny! An interesting place at San Francisco. Love it!

This place is a wonder. Phyllis (the owner) has a great big generous spirit, and her place reflects it in every way. I’ve found lovely antique jewelry and gifts here, at great prices. Gaslight is a shining example of why we should all shop locally.

So this shop is very cute and I love that it’s around the corner from where I live, but it reallly stands out for me because I found the perfect necklace here for someone very special to me. Phyllis is just adorable and incredibly helpful! Although it’s hard to say if they will have what you are looking for it’s definitely worth checking out!

Great stuff! Friendly and helpful service!

The owner of the store is also a great runner and volunteer in various charity race events. She is very honest and kind person.
I know the owner through a lost and found of my phone and she was really kind in trying to find a way to find me.
Her store also was a very nice and has very comfortable layout. I saw people came in to ask her opinion. And she definitely takes great pictures. (I see them in some of the race photo she took) They are so lively and shows her kind personality.

My partner and I were walking by after lunch and stopped in just for fun… we are so glad we did! Phyllis, the owner, was friendly, interesting and honest. We were perusing the jewelry and she was helpful but not pushy, and was very honest about the quality of various peices.
We truly enjoyed talking with her, and I walked out with a nifty little pocket watch.
This is a gem of a store with an equally special owner. If you like antiques (or if you just like looking at awesome things) stop by, you will not be disappointed!
Oh, and did I mention the store is surprisingly well organized, especially considering the amount of stuff she fit in that small store!

I’m writing this review in the format of an open letter to the owner… I also delivered the email to her inbox after she emailed me the day after my last, and worst, experience with her and her shop. Full disclosure, her email apologized for the fact that I left the store unhappy… yet did offered nothing to remedy the situation aside from letting me know she finally figured out that she owed me a credit which she would honor until the end of the year.
Dear Phyllis,
I contacted you for the first time in November after coming to your shop several times in person only to find it closed. I had a similar problem after dropping the lighter off to you for repair, when the time came to pick up a replacement.
I am a business owner myself. In fact, I used to have a shop of my own here on my side of the city. I’ve worked in retail all me life. I understand that customers’ happiness is key and integral to the success of any business, especially small business. Through my experience yesterday it became apparent that you have not yet learned this valuable lesson. You failed to acknowledge me when I entered your shop. You saw me but did not say hello, or welcome and instead continued your personal conversation from behind your desk. As a result, I spent five minutes looking at jewelry in the same tiny case for five minutes. Good thing I was not interested in purchasing any of that jewelry because that would have been a lost sale for you as you never asked if I needed help. I was prohibited from perusing any other of your merchandise because the person with whom you were carrying on a conversation about your photography skill was blocking my way. Luckily for me, he finally turned and acknowledged my presence. Perhaps her should be put on the payroll!
After I stated who I was and why I was there, you more or less stepped out of the picture and let me figure it out with Father Al, the man whose defective lighter you sold me from your shop. I’m surprised it’s necessary to inform you how unprofessional that is and how uncomfortable it made me, the customer, feel. My business is not with Father All. My business is with you. You’re business is with me and Father Al. You are the middle man, as owner of the shop. I am sorry you were not comfortable handling your business with me, but that is not my problem.
The lighter I was offered as a replacement, while perhaps commensurate in value to the lighter I’d originally purchased, it was not acceptable in terms of appearance. It was larger, gold and maroon instead of silver and featured a floral design. In short, it was gaudy. The lighter I purchased from you was sleek and cool looking and came in a neat vintage box. It was the perfect gift for my boyfriend. While you may feel that the appearance of the lighter was not important, I do not share that opinion. I chose the lighter in the first place because of the way that it looked!
Now. Father Al and I did come to an agreement and I took a different, less expensive, less attractive lighter — in worse condition — than the one I paid money for. When I asked for the box back you told me, No, the box «goes» with maroon lighter. I was shocked. I am trying to be polite, but what can you be thinking? That box WENT WITH THE LIGHTER I PURCHASED. You only got it back because I kept the BROKEN lighter in it when I returned it to you for repair. You just decided to keep it — it wasn’t yours anymore. When I expressed my dissatisfaction you and Father Al told me that «You’ve got to have a sense of humor about things.» To which I replied, «It’s easy to have a sense of humor when you are the one calling the shots.» In addition to all this ridiculous behavior, you never even bothered to work my credit out, although I was owed one.
The bottom line is, you just don’t get it. I’m doubtful any of this will sink in for you, but I hope it will. As I said when you asked if I wanted you to «try to find another box», what I want is for you change the way you do business so that you can keep your customers.
Because my experience was so unpleasant, I will not be back to your shop, despite having a $ 10 credit there. You treat customers as if you are doing them a favor, when the truth is the exact opposite. I will spend my money elsewhere, I will not recommend you shop to others, I will share my terrible experience with friends and I will review your business online.
Sincerely,
L

I really don’t know this area of the Outer Richmond at all, so after seeing a show at the Legion of Honor we decided to walk down Clement instead of taking the bus to Burma SuperStar. I am so glad we did — I had seen this store when I was looking up other things on Unilocal,but always wrote it off as not being worth the trip.
Oh how wrong I was — if you have any interest in vintage jewelry (especially bakelite!) and great odd knick-​knacks, beeline out here. Phyllis (the owner) is like that aunt that you can’t wait to see, and she is so absolutely sweet with her customers that it’s a joy to spend time poking around in here!
The best part– even though it’s a small funky store that’s been there since the 70’s, it’s clean & highly organized, and the cases she has of jewelry make me drool. I want to win the lottery just so I can buy her case of amazing bakelite bracelets & hang them on my wall (since my wrists are too fat to actually wear them)

Phyllis is so friendly and not a pushy store owner in the least. I have bought a few items from her store, mainly jewelry and I have been more than pleased with my purchases and the prices I paid… so reasonable!!! I stop in often just to chat and Phyllis is always so welcoming and friendly. Her store has been on Clement for 35 years and I hope to see her store there for another 35 years.

Phyllis is a wonderful store owner in the community! Her store is filled with wonderful gifts and eclectic knick knacks from the past at great prices! Not only did she take on some items of mine for consignment (two vintage typewriters) she helped me clean them up right on the spot, while sharing some interesting insights. Truly a great person. Would DEFINITELY do business with again… and I hope to again soon!

I stopped in while running errands to look for a Christmas present for my mom. She specifically wanted antique sewing accessories so I asked the owner if she had any. She returned with two beautiful needlecases and a seam ripper. I was excited because I’ve found more vintage sewing items in sewing stores than in general antique stores but they are usually vastly more expensive. I decided on a beautiful flat rectangular needlecase with handpainted flowers from the 1920s. Inside was a stamp saying it was from Germany which made it pre-​war Germany and an excellent find. The sticker said $ 25 but she sold it to me for only $ 12. While chatting with the owner she said how in her youth she had been treated rudely by antique shop owners for being dressed casually and unable to afford high-​priced rare items. I was doing laundry and in just a T-​shirt and jeans but she was respectful and friendly to me from the start and looked for my requests with the same attention as if I had been a rich collector. There was a great selection, especially jewelry, and the affordable prices guarantee I will return whenever I need gifts or have some extra cash and want to see what unique finds are in store. My mom will be very happy with her gift and I was definitely happy with the exceptional personal service I received.

Phyllis is a wonderful person and her store is fantastic! Great place for the little things you may be looking for. Check out her store when you have a chance!

After having walked by countless times in the last year, I finally went by on a day when I had time to go in and it was open. From the moment I walked in, I knew this wasn’t your average antique shop. The owner, Phyllis, is very nice and friendly and she has spent over 20 years amassing the collection that is in the store. The doll collection is all in the window it seems, so don’t get thrown off by the front display and think that all you are going to find are dolls. What I came for was paper ephemera – postcards, photos, magazines – and I did pretty well with that. Had I wanted some Bakelite jewelry or jewelry in general, I would have done very well, as she has a lot of that. If you’re looking to buy a nice antique wingback or sideboard, go elsewhere, as she doesn’t focus on furniture; but if you want the smaller things come look around Gaslight & Shadows.

From what is on display in the window, I was expecting cool old 80s movie posters and creepy dolls. However inside you find about 80% trinkets and jewelery and 20% various other crap. Its kind of small and disappointing

As a rule I think all antique shops should be disorganized, just to place more emphasis on the junk aspects and less on the refined civilized nature of the pre-​Raphaelite blah blah blah that costs more than your yearly salary. So, it is a special treat when the owner of such an establishment is more disorganized, disheveled, and discombobulated than a stoned monkey in Alaska. Phyllis, our intrepid owner, keeps hours a banker would admire, mon-​sat 1 – 6. Therefore, when i rolled up to the outer Richmond haunt at 1:30 the other month i didn’t think about it not being open. I peeked in the window admiring the colorful cornucopia of crap that would serve as a birthday gift for my number one gal. Disappointed i turned away and starting walking to my car when a frizzy haired lady started waving her arms wildly in my direction. She was running late, something about the previous evening, feeding the kitten, or just sleepin’ too long. As she welcomed me into her store and illuminated all the display cases Edith Piaf blared patriotic anthems filling the vacant store with an instant nostalgia. I was in the market for jewelry and she had every color, style, and price one can imagine. Want to buy a Bakelite bracelet? What color? How about a 1920’s Hungarian glass worked pair o’ earrings? Maybe you’re feelin’ southwesty, hows abouts some turquoise? Phyllis has everything and specializes in Limoges boxes for collectors. Her pricing system depends largely on her mood and the price tags seem to be a starting point not the end. We talked for awhile without another soul entering, mostly about her disdain for the antiques roadshow (cuz then she can’t get good prices from her dealers after some yahoo from Oklahoma finds out their porcelain doll collection is worth six figures), how things used to be in foggy outer Richmond and how much she loves junk. She sent me on my way and reminded me if the lady doesn’t like something just come on back and we’ll exchange it for something she does. And I will return because sometimes when shopping you just want a friendly, half crazy eccentric to tell you the story of a piece of something you didn’t even know you needed, but now must own.