how to shop for an island hood locally? (SF Bay Area)

13 years ago

Hi all,

we're in the initial stages of a kitchen remodel, and our tentative plans call for a cooktop on an island. We definitely want a hood over the cooktop, so that means we're in the market for an island hood. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Jose area to be specific), we have visited two local appliance shops, searching for island hoods to see, touch, and evaluate. However, neither of the stores we visited stocked ANY island hoods for display.

I know that a lot of hood shopping research can be done on the internet (including but not limited to a ton of fabulous content here on this forum), but nothing replaces being able to see and touch something before you purchase it. Can anybody from the SF Bay Area comment on where to shop for an island hood around here?

Or, if you are not from the Bay Area but you have faced the same problem in your area, how did you deal with this situation? Did you buy your hood sight-unseen, based on photos and internet reviews?

Thanks so much.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

artemis78
13 years ago
We don't have an island hood so honestly I have no clue whether the stores we looked at had any, but the two that had the best selection of wall hoods on the floor were Airport Appliance (multiple locations, including one in Redwood City I think---we went to the Hayward one) and Pacific Sales (went to the Emeryville/Oakland location, but I think they have others in the area). Might be worth calling them if you haven't already been there to see what they have on display and if either is worth a trip.

We didn't buy anything from either in the end (both have lukewarm service reputations) but they were great for shopping. I think Gourmet Appliance Outlet in Oakland also had at least a couple of island hoods on the floor when we were there last, but their inventory is less predictable and they carry a more limited set of brands, mostly higher end (though they do have a website that lists some of what they have). HTH!
deeageaux
13 years ago
Pacific Sales
BLOSSOM HILL/
SAN JOSE
634 Blossom Hill Rd.
San Jose, CA 95123
(408) 224-2399

My local PS has lots of mid to upper-mid priced island hoods.

Independent Hoods
Sierra Select Distributors, Inc. San Francisco Show Room
Sobel Building at 680 8th Street, Suite 169C
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-431-8682

Modern-Aire Ventilation products are distributed by Luxury Products LLC. in Northern California (North of Santa Barbara, CA, Arizona and Nevada.
Luxury Products Corporate office is located at:
2300 Bethards Drive * Suite O * Santa Rosa, CA 95405
toll free: (800) 977-1595 local: (707) 578-4600 fax: (707) 578-0700
Website: www.luxuryproductsllc.com

This one is far but Hey,sometimes we need to do a little leg work. Or road work LOL.
Related Discussions
Permanent Close Construction Loans in SF Bay area?
Q
Comments (62)
Laura, So sorry you are having a tough time finding a CP loan. I do understand what you are going thru since we went thru very similarly hard time finding our CP loan. Next best advice is to lock into an ARM with the lowest possible fees and that will cost you the least in interest during construction, no matter what the final rate is. Then, figure out who you will be using to refi to a Fixed and have them help you keep a VERY close eye on the rate market. If they start to rapidly deteriorate, you can lock into a long lock period for a Fixed rate refinance ... you will go ahead and be underwritten and will close on the refi into a Fixed as soon as your construction is finished. This lender or broker needs to be someone who has access to Mortgage Baked Securities market that they can monitor the movement for you. Rate lock periods can generally be for up to 60 days. Some lenders will allow 90 day locks. Other lenders will allow even longer lock periods with an upfront fee. Keep in mind .. As a general rule, the longer your lock period, the worse the rate at the same origination cost. I.e. If you are paying 1% origination
...See More
Would like your input on SF bay area and environs
Q
Comments (18)
Well, my house has been overrun with guests...sorry I let this slip to page two. Emmatux, my DH has mentioned Muir Woods. We may have gone there together on the last trip, almost two decades ago. (It's strange how little I remember of that trip.) I will look for Stinson Beach and a cheese factory. We live in New England, so variable weather is something we're used to. And cold is a relative thing... :-) Another Linda, I just discovered Yelp. It's pretty amazing. I have to dig a bit deeper and will do that with SF. Thanks for the tip on Capitola. That's just the kind of info I need And I will put your resto suggestions in my notes. Ann, that trip sounds just divine. Lucky women, both of you! I am embarrassed to say I didn't know Alcatraz was an NPS site. That changes everything. We are Passholders and have never been anything but thrilled with our NPS experiences. I am glad your DD enjoyed it. We will try to watch Birdman before we go. All your other suggestions are right up our alley, including the Beat Museum. DH was in Berkeley from 1959-64 and was inspired by that scene. DD read Kerouac this year. Perfect! So sorry you missed the Avedon show. I was a big fan as a teenager and have not yet introduced him to my budding photographer/fashionista. We won't get to see the show, but I think I will get her a big coffee table book for her next b'day. bestyears, jason, terriks...thanks for the additional tidbits. Renting bikes is a great idea, though the hills might be intimidating. We'll look for Sears (ring boloney and mac and cheese?!). Terri, we live to layer here! No problem. Thanks again everyone! This will all go into my SF file.
...See More
hybrid musk and teas/chinas for sf bay area
Q
Comments (23)
Thanks, everyone! I ordered from ARE last week: Cornelia, Madame Berkeley, Mutabilis, Sally Holmes, and Marie Van Houtte. These last three didn't come up on this thread, so hope I chose well. Mutabilis and Sally were on my want list, but I had forgotten about them. I've seen both around here looking really stunning. Marie Van Houtte was more of an impulse buy. I wanted Mrs Dudley Cross, but read MVH is less prone to mildew. Rosette Delizy was also a contender, but her color not as good with my existing plants. I really wanted to order the Cochets, but restrained myself due to the balling. Sigh... Marie VH and Mme Berkeley will have lots of sun; Mutabilis, mostly sun; Sally H will have morning sun. Not sure yet about where to plant Cornelia. I've read conflicting reports about how much sun she likes. I'll probably get one more shade tolerant rose- maybe Pax, Buff Beauty, or Reve D'or. My clay soil is waterlogged, so I'll probably need to wait awhile to plant. No complaints about the rain, though!
...See More
SF Bay Area RE continues to rise
Q
Comments (29)
"Blaming the poor school results and poor quality of services to not collecting enough taxes is crazy." " In 2007, The New York Times reported the average property tax in California was .68 percent." No making such a statement from the wilds of NC is crazy. From folks that live there, the consensus is that Prop 13 is the victim of unintended consequences. California Schools went from among the best in the USA in the late 1970s to among the worst. The infrastructure went from one of the top rated to a situation that has become somewhat desperate. The fact of the matter is that 0.68% Property tax is unfair when the new purchaser pays 1.0% and the guy next door pays .34% for property identical in value. 1.0% is not an unreasonable tax rate for all to pay - higher in most areas - but 0.68% is not a reasonable base across all properties. You repeatedly apply your parochial experience in a Southrn State and generalize to apply it broad brush to rel estate practices, property taxes, weather impacts, etc, etc, etc. Read and learn from the folks above that have lived the actual experience. Denying the impact of a failure to collect adequate taxes on the quality schools shows a certain lack of knowledge of the real World. One of my favorite examples, and be careful this is a specific case. The Town of Lakehurst, NJ, in the 1980s was a very poor town. One nearly deserted Navy Base (Think Von Hindenburg Fire), lots of wooded and deserted farm lands, and a largely poor, minority population clustered in a "downtown" area. A huge Retirement Community (55+)called Leisure Knolls was constructed, including Single Family Detached, and high rise apartments. Pricey properties all and largely retired, wealthy owners. (Leisure is a developer with properties located all ovr the USA. NJ Schools are largely funded by Local Property Taxes, which is the case in many states. The problem in Lakehurst was the Tax Base was overwhelmingly comprised of older people that felt they had already paid for good (read expensive) schools while their Children were attending schools and darned if they'd pay for a ton of schooling for other people's children also. The tax base remained depressed, the schools got poorer and poorer. Finally the State of NJ stepped in and took over the Lakehurst Schools and funded them to higher minimum performance standard. My late parents were residents of Leisure Knoll. The same school situation existed in virtually every State in which I bought home. Shop around for jurisdictions that had seemingly good schools and inevitably you'd find a higher tax base - a meld of property values and tax rate. Essentially, locally you could group together and collect more taxes and fund better schools if so motivated. In both CA and Lakehurst in 1978 an later those jurisdictions acted to preclude this choice. In CA the Property Tax was mandated by Statewide Initiative. In Lakehurs the choice was precluded by annual voter mandate. Not blaming the poor school results and poor quality of services to not collecting enough taxes is crazy - particularly if basing that opinion on local NC experience.
...See More
ra_ca
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you, artemis78 and deeageaux! That is extremely useful information. Really appreciate it!
Best wishes,
r.a.
Fori
13 years ago
There's a place in SJ (I think) with the delightfully pretentious name "Standard of Excellence" which is a nice store. Atherton Appliance (RW City) is a good place for looking at things too. (There's a newish Pacific Sales really close to it). I found my (non-island) hood at Airport Appliance but ended up ordering it from good ol' Western Appliance (they don't have many hoods on display but will order GE Monogram, VAH, and a few other brands you wouldn't expect from the front door.)

No guarantee these places will have a bunch of island hoods, but you call always call them and ask.
salmon_slayer
13 years ago
we also live near San Jose. Atherton Appliance had the best working displays. University Appliance, Standards of excellence, Airport Appliance are the other places we looked. We ended up buying several items from Standards of Excellence and a refrigerator from Airport Appliance.

Best wishes
juniork
13 years ago
Thanks for starting this, reluctantartist! I'm also looking for all appliances, including a hood, in the SF bay area. SJ would be nice, and I'm willing to travel. My coworker bought her stuff from University Electric in SJ, I think (unsure if they sell hoods), and she felt they gave her a better deal on appliances, than Meyer, etc. I heard from a friend that Atherton Appliance was going out of business, but haven't had a chance to get up there to look yet.

Anyone looked at the places in Hayward, or South San Francisco? Given that they have so many discount tile/flooring/stone places, you'd think there would be some discount appliance places near there.
marcydc
13 years ago
Floorcraft near SSF has a good showroom.
I got my stuff from BSC in SF south of market which has a really nice showroom. They are the same owner as Atherton Appliances. Pacific Sales is close by. Then of course you have Cherin's and House of Louie.
Fori
13 years ago
Oh, forgot one. The distributor for Gaggenau, Bosch, Thermador, etc. is in Burlingame (I think. And I can't remember their name but any shop that carries those lines should give you the info) and has a lot of things on display.

Keep in mind, even with the functioning displays, most of the hoods aren't vented properly so you still can't get a great idea on noise.

It's a shame Atherton App. is going out of business. A really nice shop. Their chefs would bake cookies when we came in with the kids. But I'm not all that surprised. They were great at answering questions until you wanted a quote and then it'd take forever to get a bad one. :)
ra_ca
Original Author
13 years ago
Here's another thank-you, this time to fori, salmon_slayer, juniork, and marcydc. You all have given us a bunch of terrific shopping options to pursue!

Fori, thanks for making the point about noise levels for showroom-installed hood displays not necessarily being comparable to a home installation. That's a good point.

On a related note, I read somewhere (can't remember where now) that the *only* place in the U.S. where one can see Futuro Futuro hoods on display is at the FF showroom in Brooklyn, New York. Can anyone confirm or deny if that is true?

Thanks again,
r.a.
ra_ca
Original Author
13 years ago
In case anybody else is also considering Futuro Futuro hoods, I'm going to answer my own question from my previous post (and apologize for asking a simple question that turned out to be easily answered with a phone call to Futuro Futuro in New York). Per the FF New York office, it is true that the only place to see FF hoods on display in the US is their showroom in Brooklyn, NY.

Regards,
r.a.

Here is a link that might be useful: Futuro Futuro hood showroom in Brooklyn, NY

how to shop for an island hood locally? (SF Bay Area)

Comments (10)

artemis78

deeageaux

Related Discussions

ra_ca
Original Author

Fori

salmon_slayer

juniork

marcydc

Fori

ra_ca
Original Author

ra_ca
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

how to shop for an island hood locally? (SF Bay Area)

Comments (10)

artemis78

deeageaux

Related Discussions

ra_caOriginal Author

Fori

salmon_slayer

juniork

marcydc

Fori

ra_caOriginal Author

ra_caOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

ra_ca
Original Author

ra_ca
Original Author

ra_ca
Original Author