Business
In tough economic times, you’d think 99-cent stores, pawnshops and thrift stores would be thriving. They’re not. Behind the counter of 41st Discount, a 99-cent store on 41st and Telegraph, stands store owner Omar Alrahimee, surrounded by phone cards, incense oils, microwave popcorn, “God Bless the USA” bumper stickers, and cigarettes (his best selling item). He holds up a stack of bills he hasn’t yet paid. “Today is the 12th, I have not paid the rent, I used to pay…
Loren Partridge has until February 28 to vacate Cunningham Partridge Gallery and Framing, the Piedmont Avenue business she has run for seven years. “I’ve seen it coming for months,” Partridge said last Saturday afternoon. “Then January came, and boom.”
By Samson Reiny/Oakland North It was off with their heads-the parking meter heads-that is. At the end of 2007, the City of Oakland replaced its traditional coin-eating car meters with automated payment kiosks in the most congested parking areas, allowing people the convenience of paying for parking time by credit card and cash rather than change. In order not to confuse motorists, most of the old meters’ heads were removed. But for many bicyclists, especially on busy College Avenue, that…
California now requires that workers take two unpaid days off each month. Oakland North’s Lauren Rudser and Brittney Johnson talk to a furloughed worker from the Department of Motor Vehicles about the state’s attempt to save money.
By Elise Craig and Melanie Mason/Oakland North On the corner of 34th Street and Market Street in Oakland, a Coldwell Banker sign is attached to a chain link fence in front of a house with graffiti-covered boarded windows. Beside it, a black arrow on a yellow plastic sign points to a real estate auction up the street. A few doors down, Alain Pinel Realtors is selling the house with the red steps, where plastic toys in primary colors lie…
Once a week, small coffee shop transforms into game show stage when employees lob questions at patrons jousting for a small prize. Click here for the story
video by MARTIN RICARD If you’re vegan and you live in North Oakland, this is the place to be. Even if you’re not, 1050 40th St., is the place to get a good meal that is both organic and macrobiotic.
The Video Room, where everybody knows your name and your favorite movie title, re-creates itself to stay afloat. Click here for the story
by ANNA BLOOM Dec. 20–Snow on Mt. Diablo was one thing, but ice skating in Temescal… without ice? The Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District is making no small plans to attract holiday shoppers to their neck of North Oakland this weekend. Beyond the usual good cheer, Santa and Christmas carols, the district’s first annual Holiday Skate and Stroll will feature an ersatz ice rink at 49th and Telegraph. Saturday and Sunday, as many as 30 will be able to glide,…