May 10, 2006
Cody's No More
Was it something we said? First there was the dispiriting news about Clean Well-Lighted's sale, and now the Chron reports that the flagship Cody's Books on Telegraph is closing, after 43 years. NO!!!
Andy Ross, who owns Cody's, says that the store has lost over $1 million/year trying to keep the store open and that they just can't support it anymore. Foot traffic is down, maybe because older readers don't like going to Telegraph Avenue, and sales have been declining for the last 15 years because of chains and the internet. The few book browsers at the store that the reporter found all complained about how Berkeley let Telegraph "go to seed" and abandoned Cody's in the process. Another guy said he'd bought maybe 600 books from Cody's over his lifetime, and described himself as "very unhappy" about the closing.
The Fourth Street store and the San Francisco branch will stay open, which -- don't get us wrong -- is great -- but it's still just not the same.
What's going on with places across the streets from Amoebas, anyways? Watch out, whatever's across the street from the Hollywood Amoeba!
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Did you notice that Booksmith on Haight is on the block, too? Check it: http://business-team.com/Listings/LifeStyleListings/lifestylelistingsNew.asp Look about 2/3 down.
Note that it’s offered as a “Lifestyle Business,” which means that despite its declared $1.7m in revenue that it’s not making much, if any profit.
First of all, this is very sad. Cody's is a wonderful store, and I'll miss it greatly.
Time to put on my hater hat.
"Older readers" don't like going to Telegraph Avenue for the same reason we younger readers mostly avoid it: it sucks. Hippie nostalgia just doesn't cut it anymore--the original hippies have turned into self-righteous, self-absorbed reactionaries, and their contemporary Telegraph imitators seem to have forgotten the activism and idealism and kept only the addictions, the aggressive panhandling, and the funky smell.
We the students of UC Berkeley do not need any more Bob Marley tee shirts, hemp necklaces, or novelty bumper stickers. We need bars. Clubs. Performance space. Nightlife of any sort. But the selfish Boomer neighbors don't want the noise, and Blake's doesn't want the competition.
We the residents of Southside need better bus service, but god forbid Joe's Head Shop lose its curbside parking spot. We need affordable housing, but save us from infill development lest it make Berkeley less suburban or block someone's precious view. We need our cars to stop getting broken into, but let's not distract our cops from doing heroin.
All is not lost--Telegraph still has Amoeba, Moe's, Shakespeare & Co., and some decent cheap restaurants. But Telegraph needs new life, and that means ditching the nostalgia act and getting with the program.
the challenge for these kinds of bookstores is to grow and adapt or scale back and become more of a niche. opening the sf store was a big bet for cody's which is paying off, but at the cost of the big store in berkeley.
but let's face it telegraph avenue sucks, it's a terrible place to visit, the last time I was there I was appalled at just how crappy it had become. it's not fun for anyone, and the aging hippies make it worse for the reasons mentioned above.
plus how many bad crafts can one buy?
I would just like to commend a student for a most articulate and edifying rant.
If you represent a cross-section of today's students, this world is in much better shape than I thought!