Virtual windowshopping

Google Street View can be used to pick out storefronts. (Clicking on that link will tell you more about the service, but will also load a video which you may or may not find annoying.)

Here’s Purl, the shop in Soho (which is apparently attempting to be the only yarn shop in the U.S. with a name beginning with “Purl”… more later). Click on the “Street View” button, and you’ll see a little gold man; click on him, and you’ll get a street-level picture of Sullivan. Rotate towards the side of the street with the storefronts (you might have to move up the street a little), and you’ll see the little pale aqua storefront (the one without awnings or discernible signage).

Or try Artfibers in San Francisco. When I clicked “Street View” I had to drag the little man to the right place, and because my aim wasn’t very good I had to move west until I could see the Artfibers sign suspended at second-storey height (the shop is up a flight of stairs, not at ground level).