RIP Cody’s Books
As yesterday’s media barrage may have suggested, Cody’s Books closed its doors permanently yesterday. The Daily Cal had its typical coverage, but for those of you looking for a really really well written piece on the unfortunate departure, check out this blog post from Eugene Lee:
… The demise of Cody’s Books marks a drastic change in Berkeley’s image. The Baby Boomer Generation of the 1960s, the free spirit/lovers who defied a nation and changed the course of history, are now the Geritol Generation of the present. Free speech, as I now see and am an active participant in, has been removed from the public protests and demonstrations and refined to a more “online” form. We voice our opinions digitally with, surprisingly, the same poignancy.
Telegraph Avenue, so nostalgically mentioned in Green Day’s recent hit “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, is both a tribute to the past and a stark reminder of the present. It is a battleground between the independent spirit of Berkeley’s past and the ever-growing internet/global chain future. Sprinkled now among Cody’s and local favorite Amoeba’s Records on Telegraph are Noah’s Bagels, Hot Topic, and Subway Sandwiches…
As to support Eugene’s claims, the Berkeley Daily Planet is reporting that a Peet’s Coffee is trying to open a new location at Telegraph and Dwight. Apparently the two previously existing Peet’s at Channing/Bowditch & Shattuck/Bancroft were not enough for the citizens of Berkeley. At least it’s not a Starbucks.
Channing/Bowditch uses Peet’s coffee but it is not a Peet’s.
In case you weren’t aware, the first Peet’s was the one on Vine and Walnut. There’s also one on 4th Street.
Comment by Donald — July 12, 2006 @ 11:25 am
Reminds me of the South Park episode in which the townfolk boycott Wall.mart into the ground, but hte mom and pop shop grows tothe same size and receives the same.
Comment by McMike — July 12, 2006 @ 1:59 pm
I like this article. It implies that there are all these spare police who stay indoors.
Comment by beverly — July 12, 2006 @ 7:42 pm
yeah, give me a million bucks a year (what bates wants to spend on extra bacon) and leave the senior piggies at their desks. ill have the fucking business humming in no time. think of the fucking things you could do with a million $ that would actually bring people to berkeley who wanted to spend $… concerts… street fairs… promotional events… fucking hell.
oh, and to the bayking dumbass quoted in the article, complaining about “those people” who come into his shop “smoking all kinds of stuff”?? thats why your store is in business, you fucking retard. those stoners have an apetite… noone else likes your low quality shitty baked goods.
Comment by mano — July 12, 2006 @ 8:09 pm
ya know, the chains aren’t doing too great in the area either, the Gap and a couple others have also moved out in the last year.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2006 @ 8:43 pm
i would use the million bucks to get rid of all the homeless teenagers that are blocking store entrances and peeing on the streets and harassing customers.
Comment by commodore anonymous — July 12, 2006 @ 9:22 pm
yes, indeed, Bayking has expensive doughnuts for an environment where you can’t really sit down. I actually like Cafe Med quite a bit, and their breakfast is only $3, and staff is nice enough.
When you leave Berkeley briefly, it is clear that the homeless population is especially mental illness affected. In other areas it is substance abuse. A few cities found that having special supportive housing where drinking is allowed as long as bad behavior doesn’t occur, is much much cheaper than sending them to hospitals and jails each week. Social worker friends of mine say that their occasional clients in Berkeley can’t get assistance unless they are wandering in traffic. Sitting by the Fenwick co-op peeing on yourself isn’t good enough.
Comment by it — July 13, 2006 @ 2:16 pm
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is about telegraph? ive never heard that, but i did see the band walking along telegraph once.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2006 @ 3:08 pm