If you want to check out interesting retail in San Francisco—and you happen to be low on Peg Leg Oil—your first stop should be 826 Valencia in the Mission district.

Here you can stock up on buccaneer supplies such as Glass Eyes, Scurvy Begone Tablets and Mermaid Bait or Repellant (it does both!) at The Pirate Store, a one-of-a-kind emporium that fronts best-selling author Dave Egger’s original writing lab for students, also called 826 Valencia.

Created to satisfy retail zoning requirements, the store was designed in 2002 by Eggers and volunteer designers and fabricators as a way to raise awareness about the nonprofit’s writing programs for students ages 6 to 18, which take place in the back of the space.

“The store has been a great part of 826’s success,” says Justin Carder, Pirate store and publishing director. “It gets kids excited about coming in, and adults excited about volunteering.”

That enthusiasm apparently spread to the creative community. San Francisco design firm Office created a new identity for the store, along with some 50 pirate products. And graphic novelist Chris Ware designed an intricate mural for the storefront, which the 826 website says is best studied from the middle of Valencia Street, by far the best vantage point.

“There is almost nothing conventional about the store,” said Carder. “We have trap doors, we have a fish theater, we have a vat of lard. We barter for things. We tell bad jokes. It’s a pretty unique place.”

The success of the Pirate Store concept has spawned 826 Valencia chapters in seven other cities, each with a unique retail front and product line. (You can buy Gravity in a one-gallon can at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.) All are chronicled in Essentially Odd: A Catalog of Products Created For and Sold At the 826 National Stores.

826 VALENCIA
826 Valencia St.
415.642.5905
DAILY, NOON – 6