Business
Last fall, neighbors saw a once dark and quiet gallery transformed into a bright and open space with brick walls, open shelves and light floors when Umami Mart, a store that carries a variety of Japanese specialty barware, opened in the historic Old Oakland district. Umami Mart opened its doors thanks to an organization called “popuphood” which helps small business owners establish retail shops in an area that is otherwise lacking them. The stores begin as temporary spaces, and if successful are given…
When Jenny Schwarz decided that she was ready to start a new restaurant in Oakland, she took to the Internet, rather than the banks.
On Friday, the Betti Ono art gallery in downtown Oakland hosted a panel discussion about women and Hip-Hop. The “My Art, My Culture: Women, media, and Hip-Hop” three-part discussion was the product of the combined efforts of a number of Bay Area arts organizations including Beats, Rhymes, and Life, which uses Hip-Hop to empower young people, and the Daughters of Dilla Project, which offers media arts programs for girls.
The Oakland City Council heard for the first time on Tuesday night an informational report on the First Friday art and food festival’s effect on the city’s economy and public safety.
Pandora Media, Inc., the Oakland-based radio station, plans to expand its workforce. “We’re in big growth mode and we’re adding staff across all our offices,” said Vice President of Human Resources Matt Morgan.
Just as its landfill and clerical workers were about to go on strike last December, Waste Management Alameda County set up meetings with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 to negotiate wage increases and working conditions. The strike was called off.
The storefront is simple—black tinted windows with bamboo shades and the words “Ramen Shop” emblazoned in white on the front door. No Japanese characters, no large flags.
Oakland resident Kenya Wheeler was a UC Berkeley graduate student when he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2012.
Now that one of the primary funders of Oakland’s Free Broadway Shuttle has decided to cut its contribution to the program by half, those who work with the shuttle say they’re optimistic it will continue, but they’ll need to make up the funding deficit to keep the free rides coming.