There are two hobby shops in the San Francisco bay area. In the east bay in San Leandro there is Hobbies Unlimited, http://www.hobbiesunlimited.net/ . It is nice small hobby shop that carries models of every type. The have a decent selection of model car kits. This hobby shop reminds of the nice hobby shops that I used to shop at when I was a kid. In the south bay there is Hobbytown USA in Sunnyvale, https://www.hobbytown.com/sunnyvale-ca/l40 . This hobby shop is smaller than hobbies unlimited but also has a decent selection of model car kits. Have fun!