Video rental, antiques, shoe repair: Old-fashioned shops struggle to hang on

A glimpse to an aisle at the Video Room in Piedmont Ave. on Friday December 2, 2016. (Yesica Prado/Oakland North)

A big red house stands in the middle of Telegraph Avenue, two blocks from the Berkeley border with Oakland. It resembles Santa’s workshop: fun, colorful and packed with a massive amount of “stuff.” The building is two stories high and even on a normal day, found objects hang all over the property. From giant drive-thru Jack in the Box signs, to headless mannequins, vintage Victorian furniture or small quirky ceramic figurines, James Cross, the owner of the Antique Centre has it all—hidden somewhere in a corner of his store.

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Oakland businesses prepare for Halloween rush

This Halloween, Oakland North asked a few local businesses—Powell’s Sweet Shoppe, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Piedmont Grocery and Piedmont Fabric—what they did to prepare for the holiday this year. Business owners said they began preparing for Halloween at least a month ago, and have seen their biggest rush of customers this week.

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Planning Commission votes down BevMo! permit requests

BevMo! repesentatives seated in the front stare straight ahead as residents and business owner from the Piedmont area, opposing the opening of a store on Piedmont Avenue and Montell Street, stand and hold up signs that read BevMo!? BevNo! during the city planning and commission meeting Wednesday.

At the Oakland City Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday at City Hall, the commission voted against conditional use permits requested by Beverages and More (BevMo!) which has leased space on Piedmont Avenue at Montell Street to open a specialty liquor store. Approximately 60 residents and merchants from Piedmont Avenue attended the meeting, urging the commission…

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Piedmont Avenue residents and merchants debate new BevMo! store

Proposed design for BevMo on Piedmont Avenue if conditional permits are approved by the city.

Ever since the Blockbuster on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue went out of business in April, the building that housed the video rental store has remained empty. Recently, though, a prospective new tenant appeared: a sign on the door notified passersby that the liquor franchise Beverages and More (BevMo!) has applied for a permit to move into the former movie rental store.

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North Oakland academy teaches capoeira to area youth

Capoeira instructor Trevor Wagner plays the berimbau while two students spar in the circle.

On a Tuesday afternoon, in a Piedmont Avenue studio between a yogurt shop and a purveyor of vintage European goods, Yania Escobar has her kinder warriors—a half dozen 3 to 5 year olds — gathered around one of the many perfect circles outlined on the gym floor in colored tape. Escobar crouches over. She steps from one foot to the other, swaying side to side, while moving her arms about in front of her.

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Who said print is dead? It’s just got Issues

Gourmet and Modern Bride magazines went under. US News and World Report has gone digital-only. Apple launched a new iPad that lets people read National Geographic and The New Yorker online and also watch live TV. You might worry anything made with paper is … well, doomed. A stop by Issues magazine store, however, might quell those fears.

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