Village Sock Shop

Some Mendocino storefronts are small chapters inside much bigger stories, and this colorful little sock shop happens to occupy part of a corner that has been reinventing itself for more than a century.

Overview

Village Sock Shop is at 10481 Lansing Street, in the blue commercial building at the southeast corner of Lansing and Ukiah streets.

Today the shop specializes in socks for adults and children, ranging from practical hiking and compression socks to novelty designs and natural-fiber products.

The business that became Village Sock Shop began in 2015 when its owners purchased a Mendocino shop called All Legs. It became Village Sock Shop in 2018.

The Lansing Street location is a newer chapter. By late 2025, Village Sock Shop had moved from its former location at 44966 Ukiah Street into the blue building at Lansing and Ukiah.

Location

The official Village Sock Shop website lists the address as 10481 Lansing Street and describes the store as being on Ukiah Street next to Frankie's.

That makes sense because the property occupies the southeast corner of Lansing and Ukiah streets and contains several individual commercial spaces.

The blue building looks like a familiar piece of Mendocino village architecture, but the history of this corner goes much deeper than the present storefront.

History

The story begins in the early 1920s.

Traveling evangelist Roland Smith came to Mendocino and began holding nondenominational revival meetings. In 1922, a Gospel Hall was constructed on this property near Lansing Street.

The Gospel Hall opened on November 5, 1922.

By the 1950s, the former religious hall had become a Mexican restaurant called Casa Mendocino.

In April 1962, Martin and Marlene Hall purchased Casa Mendocino and renamed it the Sea Gull Restaurant.

The Sea Gull became one of Mendocino's best-known gathering places. Its restaurant and downstairs Cellar Bar became part of village life for locals and visitors alike.

Then, early on December 12, 1976, fire destroyed the Sea Gull building.

The restaurant was rebuilt in 1977, creating the commercial building that forms much of this corner today.

The rebuilt Sea Gull continued operating for years before eventually closing in the early 1990s. Afterward, the large restaurant space was divided and adapted for smaller shops, offices and services.

Community memories help fill in some of those later chapters.

Mendocino Village Pharmacy operated at 10481 Lansing Street. One recollection remembers the pharmacy especially fondly, including its delivery service that reportedly reached from Navarro Ridge north toward Cleone.

Another remembered sequence places Bebe Lapin, the children's clothing store, after the pharmacy, followed later by Nahara Healing Arts.

Historical and business records support all three names at or associated with 10481 Lansing Street, although the property contains several individual commercial spaces and the exact room occupied by each business over the years is not always clear.

Another community memory described the sequence simply as “Pharmacist. Then food.”

The available documentary record has not yet identified that particular food business with enough certainty to include it as fact, so that earlier history remains an open part of the story.

The better documented timeline is:

1922 — Gospel Hall opens.

1950s — Casa Mendocino Mexican restaurant.

1962 — Sea Gull Restaurant opens.

December 12, 1976 — Sea Gull destroyed by fire.

1977 — commercial building rebuilt and Sea Gull reopens.

Early 1990s — Sea Gull closes and the building begins adapting to smaller commercial spaces.

Later years — Mendocino Village Pharmacy, Bebe Lapin, Nahara Healing Arts and other businesses occupy the property.

2015 — the business that eventually becomes Village Sock Shop begins when All Legs is purchased.

2018 — the Village Sock Shop name is adopted.

2025 — Village Sock Shop moves into the blue building at Lansing and Ukiah streets.

2026 — Village Sock Shop continues at 10481 Lansing Street.

So this cheerful little sock shop occupies ground that has seen revival meetings, Mexican food, one of Mendocino's most remembered restaurants and bars, prescriptions, children's clothing, healing services and small-town retail.

The merchandise keeps changing.

The corner keeps working.