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One grocery store feeds an SF neighborhood of 2,300. Here's what it's like.

9 0
03.08.2026

Island Cove Market isn’t like San Francisco’s other grocery stores. Not just because its metal awning resembles the red roof of a Pizza Hut. Nor because it shares its quiet block on Treasure Island with a company that rents out shipping containers. 

Island Cove is unusual for what’s behind its doors. Which is everything, more or less, except for Broccolini. If a Costco were squeezed into a 10,000-square-foot box, it might look similar. Marinara sauce and instant noodles share an aisle with cable locks, auto duster spray and “Mulan” coloring books. There are as many flavors of Monster Energy as there are types of fruit. 

The store’s organizing principle, it seems, is to stock everything a person could need. This makes sense, since Island Cove Market is the only grocery store on Treasure Island.

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According to Abdo Nasser, Island Cove’s owner, the store’s selection is a reflection of years of trial and error. 

“We just try different things,” Nasser told SFGATE. “If it moves, we’ll continue to get it.”

Island Cove Market owner Abdo Nasser stocks shelves inside the store on Treasure Island in San Francisco on July 23, 2026.

That approach has given Island Cove an impressively wide selection. To illustrate, here’s an abridged list of the store’s nonfood offerings: 

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Ninja blenders, priced at $85; showerheads; air fryers; incense from several brands, including a scent called “Rasta is King”; TV remotes; flyswatters; sunhats with weed leaf icons on their brims; an “Advice from a Dog” fridge magnet; a child-sized Colin Kaepernick T-shirt; stacks of pillows; industrial-grade noise-canceling earmuffs; pliers; a whole plastic case of false lashes.

There’s also a souvenir penny machine near the entrance, which stamps coins with an image of the Golden Gate Bridge, and an automated San Francisco Public Library kiosk in the foyer that looks like a vending machine for books. 

It’s the exact sort of selection you’d hope for on an island with no Dollar Tree, no Ace Hardware, no Walgreens........

© SFGate