One of a Kind

closed. am sad.

The owner of this place is a total a-​hole. Extremely rude and a terrible salesperson. I am shocked he is still in business considering how ugly he treats his customers.

What a F*#%EN ASS HOLE.
I walked in and the first thing he says to me and my husband is wipe your feet. We do and he says Again wipe your feet better. Right after he tells my husband (don’t you teach her any manors) (dident you train her better). I stormed out with out looking at anything. This guy is horrible. The worst customer service I have ever seen
I will never go back in that shop again

WARNING! BEWARE! Do not go to this store unless you want to be discriminated. The horrible owner told my mom and another lady that they are poor and do not belong in this store! See you in court asshole.

This review is only based upon the creations that I saw in this store. This review is unrelated to any service from the owner/​employees here.
The wood work here is beautiful. The creations are so detailed. The people that created these wood sculptures are definitely very talented. If you are looking for a deal, they have buckets of clearance items. I think they are a great find if you are interested in wood items.
We did not buy anything during our visit here, but we had a great time just looking at the work here. Definitely stop by if you are in the area!

I have been to One of a Kind many times, twice bumping into Nancy Pelosi on her way out, arms full of interesting, unique art objects.
I have read all the previous comments and for those of you who were upset by some of the «rude» comments Bruce made to you I would like you to know that this is his way of playing with people he considers himself to be on a friendly base with. Much in the same way when people ask what something costs and you tell them they say, «get out of here!» or «shut up!!!» They aren’t really throwing you out or mean for you to stop talking, it is just a way of exclaiming ones amazement about something
When Bruce says, «You can’t afford it» he isn’t talking about your net worth, he is acknowledging some of his pieces are quite pricey and I can assure you he is expecting you to laugh along with him. Bruce says it breaks the ice and gets people asking questions about different pieces in his shop that have struck their fancy. In over 30 years of visiting his shop I have never known Bruce to have a mean bone in his body.
He loves to barter with people and sometimes will be shouting back and forth across the shop with several customers at once who are trying to get him to lower his price. Every single time I have been in the shop Bruce has been warm and friendly inviting his customers to look around and ask questions. He explains that much of what is for sale is his own work. Every single time I have asked him the price for something he has said, «for you it’s only…»
When ever I have guests from out of town visiting, right after Dim Sum we head for Ghiradelli Square and One of a Kind before heading up to the wine country.
If you feel Bruce insulted you or you were offended, you need to tell him because I know he will sincerly and graciously apologize. Bruce is a people person and he would be hurt to know he offended someone.

Ultra kewl wood sculpting.
My wife and I have a wall of memories that we add to from trip to trip. We collect heart shaped artifacts and found a very nice man & woman embracing to form a heart. The owner is local and created 60% of the work… well done!
Cheers,
O

Excellent shop, don’t get me wrong. We’ve been dedicated customers for the past decade or so and have purchased a countless number of items — gifts, workings for ourselves, and other random bits. The quality is excellent and I’m sure you would be blown away as well. The man that’s working there, Bruce Abbott, has been the owner and «distributor» of his own and 50 other local artists.
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Unfortunately, I will never step into this artisan shop again in my life. As we walked in yesterday for the umpteenth time in the past decade and pointed to a gorgeous masterpiece that had no price marked on it, we were simply given a response by the owner
«you can’t afford that anyway».
What do you mean I «can’t afford that»? Did you know that 25% of Americans can’t pull out $ 2000 in 30 days and I’m definitely not one of them. Just because we were the only asian customers in the store, it doesn’t mean we’re cheap poor asians from Chinatown. What kind of store owner judges their potential customers?
Then after we asked for, perhaps, a discount (and reminded him that we’ve bought so many items in the past decade), he asked us to do 20 pushups (yes, PUSHUPS) before he would consider anything… So essentially, put it this way:
1. He sets his own price on everything.
2. He’ll judge you when you want to purchase something. I guess based on your race/​how you dress/​etc. I’m asian and I walked in wearing a $ 300 North Face jacket. I guess that means I look poor and can’t afford anything in the store.
3. He has the worst attitude ever. Come on, have some dignity — respect people who admire your work.
Horrible, horrible, horrible. DO NOT support this business. I rarely give one star reviews but I guess this occasion fits.

Trust this Fair Warning to decent people:
The old man owner here is miserable and a complete tool. He gives woodworkers a bad name and his website is inaccurate suggesting he is remotely charming.
DO See Filtered reviews * Others have tried to warn too.
AFTER I complemented his work, to which he thanked me for, he thought it was appropriate to remark with crass judgment to my friend and I just before I was about to make a purchase.
He said with an ugly tone, «You look like someone who won’t buy.» Ironic that I had a shopping bag of prior purchases.
What a fool. I told him I was debating on which size journal I WAS going to purchase for a friend and he said, «Oh have some pride» in a very condescending manner.
I replied, «I do have pride, that’s why I won’t support your business.»
Really? Fine, you deal with tourists all day that browse. Having owned a business before, I’ll tell you this: Browsers become buyers if they are treated right. Don’t shit where you eat.
He is a half an ass. He doesn’t even deserve to be called an asshole.
One of a kind, all right.

Well, there you are all hopped up on Ghiradelli chocolate samples, zipping around the courtyard trying to run out the sugar high (so that you can justify getting a Kara’s cupcake later). What to do?
Why not step into this gorgeous artisan shop and admire the wood workings and blown glass jewelry? There are oodles of exquisite wooden whatnots, among which, as the proud owner suggests, you will continue to notice new things even as you’re heading out the door. Most memorable are the wooden inlayed bowls and boxes, wooden dragon sculptures and the dangly blown glass earrings. I’d call this a great place for gifts. But not a great place for someone in a wheelchair as the floor is scattered with beautiful pieces. (And also, probably a little iffy for sugar-​highed folks like me!) They’d do well to expand.

This little gift shop has some really nice little wood trinkets and jewelry. Of course it is a little expensive because it is on the warf, but there were some good sale things. Just be careful on a rainy day because the guy who was working there was personally paper-​toweling off wet customers. Got to protect the wood! :)

I agree that the art work here is very impressive and this is a wood lover’s paradise.
But my review comes from the bad experience my friend and I had at the store.
We dropped into the Ghirardelli square store impressed by the display. My friend was glancing at the clocks, ear rings,…when the person at the store asked us if we needed a discount. We said, «Probably». The person said, «You deserve a discount. May be this will be my last sale for the day.»
My friend went over to where the clocks were and picked out one clock and asked the price as it did not have a tag. He said it was $ 110. There was another that was tagged at a lesser price. I asked him whether the price difference between the two pieces was because of the type of wood. He said it was because of the way they were cut.
My friend chose the second piece (she said she liked the first one better though) and asked him what discount he could give on the second piece. He increased the price and quoted $ 15 more. We did not understand, so we asked him why he was quoting us more than it was tagged. He said, «You asked for a discount, so I jacked the price up. We don’t just buy and sell, we make this stuff. We should get paid for it.»
Just when I thought that was rude, he said, «You could pick up some stuff on the floor, its for poorer people». What the ???
We did not even ask for a discount in the first place, he was the one who offered it. I wouldn’t buy any art that a person with this kind of attitude made.
This is by far the worst experience I have had in any store, ever.
I would never go to this store again. Even if customer friendliness is a far-​away wish, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect basic respect.

When I first went into One of a Kind, Bruce, the owner said, «You have.. . a presence.» He was playing this youth boy’s choir music and seemed to be very proud of his store.
When I told him about my friend who collected hands, he showed me the perfect pair to get.
Everything at One of a Kind is handcrafted. The owner is very friendly *usually* and tries to make sure the customers get what they want. There’s inlay boxes, wooden boxes, masks from Bali, bowls, vases, jewelry, and watches made out of wood!
Its really an amazing place to go. The price range of gifts is pretty good. The cheapest thing in the store is probably 2.80, while the most expensive thing can run you thousands and thousands of dollars.
I suggest you stop here when you’re browsing through Fisherman’s Wharf. Its on the lower level of Ghirardelli Square.
I really love this place and have an amazing pair of earrings (11 dollars), a watch (48 dollars), and other kinds of pens, boxes, and whatnot.

I collect boxes. I have shelves and shelves of boxes of every type, and among my favorites is one that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday 2 years ago, Bruce from One of a Kind made it, and it is divine. One of a Kind sells everything wooden, pieces made with such love and attention to detail that it is hard to scan the store without being in awe of the art pieces for sale there.
On their website you can see a sampling of their products, but these masterpieces cannot truly be appreciated without holding them in your hand, feeling the wood, and hearing the story it will tell you.
One of a Kind is in Ghirardelli Square, and the whole area is most delightful during the Christmas season, when it is all light up and festive.
(800) 901‑2663