Coming from out of state, besides Target, where do you get all the stuff for the dorm room in Davis? I would imagine that Target must run out of a lot of things with that being the only store nearby. Does it make sense to travel to Bed, Bath & Beyond in Sacramento? When my son went to college, we shopped at our local BB&B and they had everything packed up and ready at the one near the college for us. What do Davis students do?
If you are OOS, are you are flying in and renting a car or driving in? Either way Sacramento is only a 20 min drive from campus so could easily pick up your items at BB&B on the way. There is also another BB&B in Vacaville, again around another 20 min drive. If you forget anything, there is the Target in town (very very busy during move in) also another Target in Woodland- 10 min drive.
Thanks @Gumbymom! We will probably be flying in, so I guess the stop in Sacramento makes sense.
There is also an Ace Hardware in town (with houseware) in case Target doesn’t have what you are looking for on move-in day.
Also, the UCD bookstore on campus is an Amazon pick-up site so there is that easy possibility of ordering and picking up right there for items you need.
We didn’t have a Target for a loooong time (lived here for over 20 years now after graduating from UCD) and we have managed. But it’s been great to have that Target here!
Congratulations on your child’s admission into UCD. It is a great school and a great community!
Thanks @ENNdavis that’s good info to have. Since you are a Davis native, do you have any suggestions for restaurants and things to see in town?
We have lots of great places to eat in our town!
There are many good Thai restaurants (e.g.,Thai Nakorn, Sophia’s, Thai Canteen), American restaurants (e.g., Bistro 33, Seasons, Cafe Bernardo), Mexican (e.g., Dos Coyotes, Tres Hermanas, El Toro), Japanese (e.g., Mikuni’s, Zen Toro, Huku Bistro), and of course your pizzas and hamburger places (e.g., Village Pizzeria, Woodstocks Pizza, Burgers and Brew). For our small town, friends and family who come to visit from bigger cities are surprised at what we have and how good these restaurants are!
As for things to see, there isn’t much to see or do in Davis. We usually go to Aggie games, movies (3 theaters, 15 screens?), biking or walking on our many greenbelts and the Arboretum, Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and trivial pursuit nights at our local breweries.
However, Sacramento is really only 10-15 mins away on the freeway. You can tour our state capital, walk around Old Sacramento, catch a baseball game (our AAA baseball team, the Rivercats, is SF Giants’ minor league team), or see a concert at the new Golden 1 Center.
Or if you have a full day free, you can pick either San Francisco or Lake Tahoe. Either place will take about 2 hours by car. It depends on what you want to do (great shopping and dining in SF or casinos and great hiking/skiing in Tahoe). There is also a shorter day trip to Napa if you want to do winery tours and wine tasting. All of these places are doable in a day!
I forgot to mention that there is a Cost Plus in town, right across from campus for some dorm stuff. Also there is an IKEA in West Sacramento, 10-15 mins away from Davis.
We flew in from Southern California and bought all kinds of things from the ACE Hardware store in town. I loved the customer service there and I liked the selection better than Target. It’s divided into a couple of blocks so that you can go to the department you want to go to.
Also, we went to Costco, Home Depot and Walmart in Woodland, 15 minutes north of Davis off of the 113 and the 5 north.
My favorite restaurant is the Dumpling house. Love those pork and chive steamed dumplings, yummmmm.
Peasano’s has good Italian food, a bit pricey but nice atmosphere.
You might want to consider a visit to Winters, a small town west of Davis (20 min). Cute downtown with a few restaurants, beer brewing and wine tasting.
My favorite place would have to be the Dollar tree.
They have so many organization and storage items. All many misc. things as well.
My D purchased her bed linens, towels, closet organizers, lamp, etc. from Ikea which is about 10 minutes away from Davis. Ikea’s prices are so reasonable and they carry items that are perfect for small spaces like dorm rooms. Dollar Tree and Target are also good, but will probably be cleaned out during move in weekend. I would recommend going into Woodland or Sacramento for better selection.
@LadeeDi Does Ikea have the twin XL size we need for the dorm room beds?
@LilyMoon: Yes, IKEA does have the XL twin sheets but I think for the money, Target has better quality.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70265252/
Also there is a Walmart near the IKEA in West Sacramento.