Lava 9

I love looking in the window at lava 9 so I decided to have a look inside. I was the only shopper in the store and was surprised when the person minding the store was a few feet away and never said hello or welcome. Then the store owner walked in and looked me up and down and did not say hello or even smile. The staff person carried on a conversation about how busy Saturday day was and how good it was for them meanwhile I was holding a garment to try on and still no acknowledgement of my presence. I walked out and they said goodbye. I own a business and I hope i always treat potential customers with care and love.

I just love this store and the staff. They are very helpful and honest. But the reason I want to actually write a review is because I was looking for a wallet as a Christmas gift for a friend. It had to have certain dimensions and a zipper for change. First I went to every store on 4^th Street without success. Until I remembered that Lava9 has many wallets und went there.
I found 3 wallets meeting the criteria, and my friend was super happy about the one I choose!

I love Lava 9 and the gals that work there couldn’t be nicer! They carry my favorite organic cotton designs, Prairie Underground from Seattle. I am embarrassed to say how many zip hoodies I have! Thank you for being on Solano Ave and being one of the few creative small businesses there! Much appreciated.

This is my «go to» place for birthday and holiday gifts. Very stylish jewelry, scarves, bags, and some clothing in a wide price range. My favorite jewelry comes from here and it’s fun just to pop in when I’m around Solano Ave. to get inspired. Then there’s the shoe stores across the street, so if you need shopping therapy or a nice gift, I highly recommend it. Also, several of the staff are very sweet and nice to talk to and make you feel welcome, so that’s a big plus, too.

Lava 9 is such a darling boutique. If you’re a fan of accessories, you definitely need to pay them a visit, it’s certainly hard to walk out of this store empty-​handed!
I’ve been coming here for years for my gift shopping, where I’ve purchased some of the prettiest custom gemstone jewelry. My father even scored this amazing intricately woven white silk ring for my mother that I was beyond jealous of. The seriously house some of the most beautifully unique-​looking designs. Ladies, prepare yourselves!
At Lava 9 you can find necklaces, bracelets, rings, belts, scarves, hats, and a variety of quality leather bags and wallets. I love that their product selection caters to all ages so there truly is something for everyone.
Their pieces are delicate but have great detail to them and are all made with high quality materials.
The owner Heidi and her employees are wonderful! They’re always so warm and friendly and amazingly helpful when it comes to finding something perfect for you or a loved one. They do a fabulous job of keeping their collections fresh, flirty, and fun and their store in polished condition.
A shop at Lava 9 is always truly so much fun, I highly recommend this boutique! You never know, you may find that next timeless piece!

So many pretty things! Second only to Anthropologie, in my opinion.

I adore this store. The people who work there. The atmosphere. The merchandise. I rarely walk out with nothing.
I have a wish list that gets longer and longer too!
The jewelry is wonderful. Unique. From the highest of prices to lows. There is something for everyone. All ages too. I have bought my daughters something– and gifts a plenty.
Great store and I’m so glad it’s there!

I’va got a quit a few things there and mostly had good experience. However, after my last experience I don’t think I’ll shop there any more. I’ve got a piece of jewelry that fell apart after I wore it twice. They were very nice when I’ve brought it back, but at the end they didn’t do anything about that. I was extremely patient and gave them four months… called a few times and stopped by to check what is going on. I was told many times that the owner will call me back and take care of this, but it never happened.

I went into the store to shop for a bag. I have cerebral palsy and the store is impossible to get into for people with mobility problems. Surely it’s not too difficult to install a handrail. My husband helped me with the awkward steps, but they are simply dangerous. I did not immediately see a bag I liked and no assistant seemed available to help. It was only as we left that as assistant told me to be careful on the steps. I can’t go back.

Love this place. Dangerous to walk in to — always find something even when I am not actively looking – jewelry, clothing, accessories.
Faye and Heidi are very friendly and helpful; and give good advice. They will tell you if something isn’t right for you; and make great suggestions for gift giving. One of my favorite small local business places to shop.
Brought a friend from Maryland there last spring, and she bought A LOT of jewelry and gifts. We almost didn’t go anywhere else to look after that, because she had gotten most of her shopping done there. The stock changes often enough so that there’s usually something new whenever I visit.
Nice range of prices — there’s no rating between moderate and pricey so I chose moderate. Most of the stuff I like is on the pricey side, but I manage to find affordable, good value and stylish items.

Aggghhhhh I love this store! I walked in today and wanted to touch and inspect about 5 things at once! Immediately! I’m sorry but sometimes women really are just drawn to bright shiny things. My eyes were darting everywhere.
Lava 9 has incredibly cool accessories. Belts, Wallets, Bags, Totes, Hats, Jewelry. As well as clothes. You will find leather goods here, of the more indie type– a lot of more loose, unstructured things. Not classic pieces, exactly, but they could be timeless, in some cases. To me it has a European flair. Maybe a little funky, and boho. And yes, maybe even a little artsy Kooky Lady.
I have collected a few lovely things from Lava 9 over time– a big leather purse in a hard to pin down color, a super cool wallet that met my weird specs (2 bill compartments, a coin purse attached, and a ID case and plenty of room for cards, and today, I bought a cute hat for summer fun and sun protection all in one. They carry a wonderful hat brand, De Lux, that I discovered in Vancouver, BC, and haven’t been able to find many places. I’ll look forward for shopping here for years to come. In the $ 40-​$ 50 range you can find many nice gifts. But you can also find more high end items. Purses and clothes in particular are more $$$.
They have a sister store in Hayes Valley, SF.

Perfect (window) shopping — my favorite sections by far are the accessories, namely wallets and jewelry. The wallets from Lodis and miwalet (a European brand, I believe) and lustworthy. The jewelry are perfect gifts for the style setter who strives to set a characteristic look — but perhaps too unique and beautiful to gift.
Prices range; not so much for the budget shopper (although there is some), but unfortunately the items are so «must-​have» that you may find yourself making exceptions on the budget. Note, most items seem to be at (reasonable) listing price and not discounted or on sale.
This outpost is a much smaller of the San Francisco location (on the ever so appropriate Hayes St), which remains my preferred store. However, since I’m walking distance to Solano, this satisfies my window browsing itch quite satisfactorily.

I don’t have one bad thing to say about this store — friendly sales associates and a great, well-​edited selection of accessories make for a great shopping experience. I went in this past weekend looking with a friend for some gifts and ended up getting myself a little something (oops).
They have a selection of some apparel and bags, but I think the real gems are the jewels. The price range goes from budget friendly to some bank breakers so you can find something for everyone and every occasion.
A great find on Solano.

I always stop in this store just to look (with starbucks in hand). It is a mecca of good taste! I have purchased every friends birthday present here, and have received to my delight a Lava 9 gift myself on that special day. What a fun place to shop.

Lava 9 has totally brightened up Solano Avenue. They have the most wonderful selection of bags, leather goods, jewelry and fun things, along with a few well chosen clothes. The buyer has an amazing eye for original and classy pieces. Some are expensive, some are not. The staff could not be nicer. It is always a pleasure to browse or shop here.

We were supposed to be browsing.
We walked by and the window display caught my eye and I stopped.
My friend looked at me alarmingly, «do you wanna take a look?», she asked.
We were just browsing.
And with that statement we both walked in.
It happened to be their 1 year anniversary. Congrats~~~
Everyone in there including the customer were happy and mellow, like they were having a party.
I were offered a Mimosa and snacks.
I just had a Guinness, damn just gave me some water please… and I got a bubble glass of H2O…
Keyword: Browsing.
I saw some charms of the cutest design and they’re from Pilgrim!!!
I carried the red heart gold plated charm to the counter and asked them hopefully if they sell charm bracelets by any chance???
I had a feeling the forever quest for my perfect charm bracelet is to be discovered soon!!!
I am a beginner collector for charms and the bracelet. I got a book about charm bracelet, I search online about charms but I don’t really like the quality and the price that go with it… until now. The very pleasant lady behind the counter took something from underneath the counter and came up with a box and she started looking through it then she showed me the one and only charm bracelet in the shop. I looked at it. It’s not what I’d expected but it’s even better!
I were supposed to be browsing.
I put it on my wrist.
It looks so nice on my wrist lol…
My friend was trying to hide a smile, well, I had to admit it was love at first sight. It is not an empty kind of charm bracelet but with little charms of a heart, some stones, a freshwater peal, a flower etc on one side then the other side were all bundled up with an elastic band (ie. it’s a long chain then!) so the whole bracelet is much easier to take off. On top of that there are plenty of space to put in the new charms for this bracelet.
The bracelet costs $ 58, the red heart charm costs $ 17.
I were so glad we decided to come in to browse so now I am a happy owner of this beautifully hand made bracelet from Pilgrim! Love this shop. Excellent customer service.
Other things you want to know:
They do very good quality leather handbags. You touch it and let your hands tell you how soft they are.
This is the very place you want to spoil yourself or to get something really nice for your girlfriend/​girl friend :)
I’ll be back ;)

At first I was sad to see Soap Sistas leave BUT I REALLY ENJOY LAVA 9. Heidi is wonderful. I am a jewlery & accessories designer and I appreciate the style that is represented in the store. There is always some «new thing» to look at and of course, to own. Welcome addition to Solano. Happy one year!

I also work on Solano, and looooove this place. I usually pop in to say hi to the fabulous Erika & check out the rotating inventory of fabulous trinkets, jewelry, and bags.
Always a kick-​ass window display — and tons of stuff that I want to take home with me. (Alas, I am a poor student!) But it’s the perfect place to pick up a little (or big!) gift.
Parking can be tough on Solano– but it’s worth it to pop into this charming little shop.

Earlier this year, I received a necklace for my birthday from this place. I’d never heard of it before so I went to check it out, and I fell in love with it instantly. They carry a unique selection of jewelry, bags, wallets, accessories, etc., and every time I come in they’ve got something new.
My girlfriend works on Solano ave., and every time I go to visit I pop in to see what they’ve got, and usually end up buying something. I’ve only seen the manager Erika working, and every time she’s been super helpful and nice.
I recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice gift to anyone they know.

Lava 9 is the most dangerous place on Solano Avenue.
If you go in, you will fall in love with a minimum of 10 things.
If you are like me, you will not be able to keep your wallet in your pants.
I work on Solano and I stop in frequently enough to be on a fist name basis with the owner (Heidi) and her fabulous manager (Erika.)
Both of these women are beyond stylish and super helpful.
Erika always says that it’s her job to place beautiful objects with their rightful owners and she has a serious skill for this.
Completely appropriate pricing. Items can range from $ 5.00 to $ 500.00
Modern, funky designers.
The business card reads «Leather and Metal» and I’ll elaborate by saying «bags, wallets (mine is from there,) jewelry, coats, hats, scarves, notebooks, charms, belts, etc.»
Come in for a gift for your mom, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend, brother, cousin, boss, employee, or maybe just yourself.
You will not be disappointed.
Inventory is always changing so it’s a bit like a fabulous art gallery.
Check in often, or at least, as often as your bank account allows.