The Grove

This store is still open, but it’s now called South Park Dry Goods Co. and it’s still AWESOME! An amazing selection of yarns and fabrics. Stop by and say hello, you won’t regret it!

The employees are nice.
Since this is not a «yarn shop», but moreso a boutique shop that has a corner of yarn, I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a good go-​to yarn shop (due to a small selection of yarn). BUT it is a good place to stop by!
The yarns they carry are GOOD yarns. Like really good yarns. But if you’re looking for something specific, they likely won’t have it.
My friends and I agree that the best part about the yarn at The Grove is that they carry yarn by several local dyers.
Since you may not be a yarn person, but you’re reading my review anyways… the rest of the store is great too. Some cute local stuff, a kitchy book selection. If you love window shopping, and splurging on random things, this is THE store for you!
If you park just a bit down the street, you won’t have to pay for parking.

I stop in here every so often to see what locally dyed yarn they happen to have. They also carry my go-​to Plymouth merino wool in a variety of colors. Fairly limited selection overall.
Update: They have since rebranded (South Park Dry Goods) and renovated the store. The yarn selection is far improved. We visited during the San Diego Yarn Crawl. Some of the locally dyed yarn (Candy Skein) is gorgeous and so nice to work with. The staff was engaging and friendly. I would absolutely come back to see what they have in stock.

Very frustrated. Their website, phone and business all list that they are open daily from 11 – 6 and Sunday 12 – 5. The store is closed today and that is not what is advertised.

I’m new to the area and was really looking forward to finding a nice yarn shop and decided to try out this one as it was along the bus route I was already taking. It’s a strange mix of a book store, clothing boutique and craft store. because there is no focus it seems to fail at being any of these things. The yarn selection was heartbreakingly small. They had some old favorites and some locally died stuff but nothing spoke to me. I’ve never planned on buying yarn and walked away empty handed before. The fabric/​sewing section was similarly small, I picked up a yard of fabric and a nice button (they do have some nice buttons) for a project and went on my way. No one was rude to me but I was never asked if I needed any help.

While this store is adorable and has lots of cute things, the employees are another story. I went into the store on a Wednesday afternoon and spent roughly 15 mins browsing the store. I must mention I was the only customer in the store as well. There were 2 employees and neither of them bothered to say hello or ask if I needed help. They were more worried about setting up a Paypal account and all the passwords for all their accounts. If they had been more friendly I would have made a purchase.
I am new to knitting so I wanted to check out their yarn. As a beginner I would not recommend this store as most of their yarn is over $ 20 a skein. I would not feel comfortable using such expensive yarn to learn with. Overall I was very disappointed.

Charming store, small yarn selection but what they have is nice quality. Helpful friendly staff.

I love yarn stores. I can’t drive by one without going in, even if I’m just driving through town. But I can’t say that I love this one. The yarn selection seems like an after thought with the rest of the items being the focus. Or maybe it’s just that the store can’t quite commit to what it wants to be. It’s an interesting store but if I want to do some shopping where I know I’ll definitely be walking out with yarn, I have to go elsewhere.
Parking is on the street.

This store was one of the stops for the San Diego Yarn Crawl 2014. It’s a lovely store with a little bit of everything — books, yarns, fabric, knick knacks. The yarn selection was smaller than most stores, but I like that they carry yarns by local dyers. There’s a variety of yarn weights and fibers. I picked up some Oink Pigments Sock yarn and had a hard time deciding among all the pretty colors!
The yarns are priced comparably to what you would find at other lys (local yarn shops). If you are looking for cheap and/​or acrylic yarn, this is not the place to find it.
I was greeted by a lady stamping passports for the SDYC, but no one asked me if I needed help finding anything in the store.

Possibly my wife’s favorite place in san diego… The owner is amazing, the treasures are endless. I love this shop… uhem… I mean, my wife loves this place…

Finally made it here during the day! I’ve always walked by after dinner at Mezzara and ice cream at the Daily Scoop, only to find that they’re closed.
As a knitter, I’ve been wanting to check them out for a long time. They’ve got a wonderful selection of gorgeous high-​end yarns, and great samples to inspire as well as free printouts of patterns. One of these days, I may get good enough to warrant buying a skein of alpaca. They used to have a knitting circle, but I think that’s gone now.
The book selection is a bit limited, as is the selection of everything else. It’s a hodgepodge of sellers vending everything from original paintings to handmade aprons. There’s a kitchen area in the back with cool modern gadgets that you don’t really need. The clothing is all eclectic or retro, and mostly only great if you’re a size 2 and perfectly adorable, like my cousin. One vendor specializes in baby gifts and layette, and another does an assortment of California beach accessories. I didn’t really understand how all of it tied together, but it was all cute and fun to browse. My favorite items were two antique stools by the front counter bookshelves. Unfortunately they were NOT for sale. I ended up buying 2 kids books for some upcoming birthday parties. Prices were basic retail, don’t expect any bargains here!
Overall a fun space to explore, but I don’t recommend coming here with kids in tow. Also don’t recommend it if you’re in a hurry and looking for anything specific.
The woman who runs the place has been a bookseller for 20+ years and manages the counter and the other vendors. The art behind the counter is on consignment and apparently gets changed out when it doesn’t sell. The manager said she also represents the current artist and has done so for many years. Colorful paintings, mostly with birds. Pricing was a little steep IMHO, even with the discount she offered.
Everything is tastefully presented and the store is clean and well-​managed. Parking is on the curb and its relatively easy to find a spot.

I’ll preface this review by saying that I didn’t really find anything wrong with the store, as it had a very good selection of yarn and knick-​knacks and other things I’m not really into, but I can see how it fills a niche; however, the fact that it calls itself bookstore (in addition to the other things) is where I take issue.
I showed up here on California Bookstore Day because it was listed as one of the participating indie bookstores. I roll in, expecting to see lots of books, but they’ve only got what amounts to maybe one table of books – and not very good ones at that. Fifty-​Shades of Gray type of books. Again, I get that there are people who like that sort of thing, but overall it was very disappointing from the standpoint of someone who was expecting an actual bookstore.
Basically, what I’m saying is that if you go here thinking this will be a bookstore, don’t get your hopes up. Otherwise it seemed to be a pretty decent shop for the other things it sells.

We discovered this cute neighborhood bookstore+ during the South Park Walkabout. Because of the Walkabout it was really crowded so I wasn’t able to really explore the whole shop but I definitely would come back. The store is an eclectic collection of interesting/​novelty books, clothing, jewelry, gifts, fabrics and yarns. Prices seemed reasonable, a little on the expensive side. If I’m in the neighborhood needing a gift it’s the first place I’d go.

I am such a total fan of this place.
I went here on a yarn hop a few years ago and never wrote a review. I went here again this weekend and had to «put pen to paper» to write a review because my positive impression about this store remained in my memory all of that time.
What I love about this place is that it has many different departments showcasing the talents of local artistsans. This weekend I looked at kitchenware, garden decorations, babyclothes, handmade cards, avant garde books, and locally dyed/​spun yarn.
As a knitter and spinner, I’m most interested in the yarns. I love to support local fiber artists (when they do appealing work). I love that I can get yarn here that is unique. I won’t find it in every other yarn store up and down the coast.
What’s even more fun about this place is that it’s in a neighborhood that embraces uniqueness. It’s not overrun by The Gap and Starbucks and McDonalds. It feels like a community. It’s not homogenized.
RECOMMEND

I adore this collective shop. Many vendors bring a real joy to the store. My girls and I love to explore the fabric, the books and yes even the GREAT bathroom. (THANK YOU!!) They offer classes too boot. Fun things for kids of all ages can be found at this little local shop. I’d LOVE to see them bring in more «LOCALLY» made products — local supporting local is really the way to go.

A couple years ago one of my friends posted a tip about this place on Unilocal.I made a mental note to myself to go check it out, but for some strange reason I never really did and time got the best of me.
Recently for my birthday a friend of mine gave me a gift certificate to get to the store, which created the perfect excuse to finally head down to the South Park neighborhood to check out this place. I’m so glad I did, and kicking myself for not going to this place sooner!
Walking into the store I felt like I was walking into my own home. Everything just screamed handmade, down to earth one-​of-​a-​kind unique awesome stuff. From clothing to yarn for craft projects, to really cool kitchen stuff. The Grove store has a little bit of everything that you could want your life and not have it look like stuff everyone else has.
You know the awkward moment when you’re out in public and you see half a dozen people wearing the same outfit as you? That’s not gonna happen with the clothing they have here. The clothing here are unique one-​of-​a-​kind and two shirts by the same designer still don’t look identical based on how they’re made. The clothing isn’t it inexpensive by any means, but it’s also not a mass-​produced carbon copy look-​like
–everyone-​else kind of shirt. You get what you pay for. I picked out a shirt for myself that fits like an absolute dream, almost like it was tailored for me.
While perusing the different books and kitchen wares, I came upon a little glass stain labyrinth window decoration that I knew I had to have in my home since I’m a fan of labyrinths.
When I was shopping, I noticed there was only one person working in the store, and I know several people have written about that in the reviews. My interactions with her were very friendly and she answered all of my questions. I’d rather have one person behind the counter versus be bombarded by employees I experience at larger chain stores, but that’s just me.
I could have easily spent several hours just looking at everything in the store, but I knew that my meter was going to be running out of time soon so I had to unfortunately leave. I will be back and highly recommend this store.

Nice little gift shop in South Park, perfect for finding little treasures and books. I was in the luck the day I came here, they had a book I’d been looking for. It was reasonably priced and the woman at the counter was very nice.

Cute store with a lot of fun things to look at. I particularly liked that they had a large selection of scarves all priced around $ 20…not to bad in my book! Also filled with kitchen gadgets, fun toys for kiddos, and clothes.
One star off for describing their store as a «bookstore.» This is a VERY cute store with reasonably priced items and nice staff. They have a nice little selection of books, but did you notice how I just described it? I used the word «little»…which it is. This isn’t a bad thing, but if you are hoping to take a stroll through large aisles of book to pick out an interesting read, you’ll need to go somewhere else. This place has a great selection, it just comprises only about ¼ of the store.
If you live or are visiting the South Park area, I would recommend stopping in and I bet you’ll be able to find something to tempt you into spending that hard earned cash.

Ok. I absolutely love local shops. SONO is a special place for local business owners and proud patrons, and if you walk into any shop on 30^th around Juniper you will be greeted with a smile and a warm hello and maybe a friendly conversation. Not at the Grove. Here you are ignored, barely noticed, and questions are answered abruptly or vaguely. It is expensive. One of the only reasons I still come here is due to the fact it is a kind of coop, where local artists have their clothes and crafts, but even this reason is starting to wear thin when I encounter the women working behind the counter or just focusing on the yarn section of the store.
I highly suggest they up the ante on their service mentality. With their prices on books, despite desire to support local, customers will go elsewhere.

This seems like a fun little shop, right in the middle of South Park. It has things for arts and crafts, clothing, cards and stationery, and more.
I was surprised that they have quite a variety of very good and interesting books, including many I’d like to read. It’s a conveniently located bookshop, and I will definitely come back there. It would be nice to buy a new book, and then go across the street to Rebecca’s (a café) and start reading.
For used bookshops though, I’d recommend going to Bluestocking Books or 5^th Avenue Books in Hillcrest.

I’ve been into the store a number of times, but today was my first time making a purchase. My forays into sewing and crochet have been few and sporadic, and since the yarns and fabric seem to be of quality I haven’t wanted to use them for my humble efforts. However, I recently decided I wanted to felt some soap, and The Grove came through.
I knew I could get carded wool online, but it seemed silly to pay for shipping on something so inexpensive. I went to Michaels because I figured a big store like that would have even obscure craft supplies, but the employee I asked had no idea what I was even talking about. Then I called The Grove, and the woman who answered the phone confirmed they carry ¼ ounce packages of wool roving.
The color selections were few, but it was worth it to avoid paying shipping. Plus, it’s nice to support a local business.
In addition to selling yarn and fabric, they also sell books and a variety of handmade items (on consignment, I think?). While I was there I also got an adorable beaded headband. It’s definitely a good place to look for gifts.