Business
When word spread that there was half a box of Twinkies still on a shelf at the A&A Market on Sunday afternoon, people of all ages gathered to get their hands on a small cellophane-wrapped piece of what was left of the Hostess legacy, and reflected on what the Twinkie—the “snack with a snack in the middle,” as the ads used to say–meant to them.
The galleries of Oakland’s Jingletown, a pocket East Oakland community once dominated by immigrants and working warehouses, opened this weekend to display the work of over 35 local artists, all part of the seventh annual Jingletown Winter ArtWalk. The weekend event highlighted a variety of work, from photography and oil painting to metal work and textiles.
On November 30, the community of Oakland celebrated the reopening of the once popular Parkway Theater in its new downtown location. But for some community members, the event was not joyous, but rather full of longing for the original theater, which was located east of Lake Merritt. Click on the player above to watch the video.
It’s Wednesday night and a party is underway in Uptown Oakland. Inside a blue building decorated with graffiti, over 200 people are celebrating the return of Oakland’s beloved Parkway movie theater, which will open its doors to the public before the end of the year. Managed by New Parkway Entertainment LLC, a group of 56 investors, the new theater will carry the same concept that made the original Parkway so popular in the community: It will offer cheaper tickets, feature…
On November 13, jewelers and jewelry connoisseurs filed into Oakland’s Compound Gallery to feast on a visual display of shimmery handcrafted necklaces, bracelets and rings created by Bay Area artisan Robert Taber.
Michael Pandolfo’s childhood comic store was dark, dingy, and intimidating. He remembers the shop was full of the condescending comic book fans he calls “rules lawyers”—comic book experts who show disdain for non-experts. It wasn’t a welcoming place for any but the most shunned, resentful reader. This old store, where he bought his first issues of Conan the Barbarian, loomed large in his mind when he opened his own comic shop Dr. Comics & Mr. Games on Piedmont Avenue in…
On an average day, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, an Oakland thrift store, is chock full of school supplies, furniture and even quirky items like ET postcards and baskets full of doll heads. The shop buzzes with teachers, students, parents and passers-by, either in search of something specific like pencils for the classroom or just hoping for a unique find.
The Old Navy store in the Bay Street shopping complex near the border of Oakland and Emeryville ended Black Friday with holiday pajamas on the wrong racks, graphic t-shirts on the floor and “Diva” jeans falling off of their shelves. As the day of sales came to a close, employees were preparing for a weekend of more frantic shoppers looking for deals.
Shoppers looking for an alternative to the post-Thanksgiving melee of Black Friday will find one in Oakland. A strong “shop local” push has developed in the city over the past few years, and this year’s day-after-T-Day campaign is the biggest yet.