I want to take my 16 year old granddaughter school clothes shopping out of town.

The choices are Salt Lake City, Utah; Portland, Oregon or San Francisco.

In Portland I know where to shop and I have a good sense of were to go in San Francisco.

The most convient is Salt Lake but I don't know if there are good shopping areas for teens. Help would be appreciated.

First, what type of clothing does she like? My 17 year old dtr prefers a combination of upscale chain stores catering to young women her age with a few vintage things mixed in - so try to get that info from her. If she prefers chains, you can go anywhere and I would select based on what else you want to do in that area.

What a nice grandparent - I still have very fond memories, 40 years later, of my grandfather taking me back to school shopping in NYC and then to dinner at some exotic (or I saw it as that) place.

Go to Portland, Ore. There are all sorts of stores there and best of all NO SALES TAX on anything.

IMHO, no sales tax is not a good reason to pick Portland over any of your other choices. Let's say you spend $600 -- in SF, your sales tax will be about $50. So, is it worth the $50 savings to go to Portland instead of San Francisco (that part is up to you, of course).

Well, I'm not 16 but I can't imagine why San Francisco wouldn't be top of the list. It remains a very cool place according to the (17-year-old) student working in our office this week!

If your GD doesn't want to go, can I come?

I'd say it depends where you live and where your granddaughter has been. If Portland is familiar to her, I'd say go to San Fran. and vise versa. My daughter is 16 and I'm pretty sure she would pick San Francisco, hands down

An advantage of San Francisco is that the Union Square hotels are right in the center of the shopping areas, including the new Westfield Center.
http://westfield.com/sanfrancisco/

Noe Valley, the Haight, Union Street, and North Beach have interesting little neighborhoods with boutiques and cafés.

There are some very nice art exhibits that I would recommend: Frieda Kahlo at SFMOMA, Women Impressionists at the Legion of Honor, and Dale Chihuly glass works at the De Young. All of those are in lovely places to stroll and talk as well.

I have a 17 yr old DD and we live in the Portland area. That said, she much prefers to shop in SF! Hands down, no question, lol!

Why not ask your granddaughter where she wants to go?

I just got back from a shopping trip to SF with 2 14 yo. They will start high school in a few short weeks. We stayed in Union Square and there was so much shopping that we couldn't get to it all. They can't wait to go back. The Westfield is really something else. Wow! Also close by is Urban Outfitters, H & M, Forever 21. On the other side of Union Square are all the designer shops. We also made a trip into China Town for one of the girls to buy a knock off purse.

San Francisco would be my first choice and only from your list. Have you thought about Seattle?

Your grand daughter ll be able to find plenty of nice stuff to wear, no matter where you go. The malls are basically the same anywhere in America.

Since the shopping won't vary much, I would base my choice on the hotel, dining, ease of transporttion and interesting sights. an Francisco will be more expensive for hotels, transportation, the clothes and of course the sales tax.

If you do plan to shop in non-chain stores, you might take into account what your GD is like...if she is fairly conservative, she might prefer SLC. If she is edgier, San Francisco and Portland will likely be more appealing.

"The malls are basically the same anywhere in America."

The malls may have some similar stores but the clothes are more different than you imagine.
I live in Northern CA and SF has lots of stores that aren't in other malls near us and the clothes in the mall in SF were different than those in our area.

Additionally the clothes in the malls in southern CA are different than the malls we have in Northern CA.

There is a new open air, downtown mall in Salt Lake City, The Gateway, that has lots of stores your granddaughter would like - http://www.shopthegateway.com/directory.html.

I think that is wonderful that you are taking your granddaugther shopping. Why not let her pick? She will have so much more fun if included in the plans. My daughter makes a list of things she needs and the shops she would like to hit so that we have a plan before being overwhelmed with the shopping...

Have fun!!

The malls may have some similar stores but the clothes are more different than you imagine.
I live in Northern CA and SF has lots of stores that aren't in other malls near us and the clothes in the mall in SF were different than those in our area.

Additionally the clothes in the malls in southern CA are different than the malls we have in Northern CA.

Suzie is so right! As the mother of two girls, I so agree. I have a daughter your granddaughter's age, jnfraz, she's prefer San Francisco hands-down. The SF Shopping Center, the Ralph Lauren Rugby store on Union Street, Neiman Marcus at Union Square.

What a sweet grandmother!