-
2 weeks ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
Paco Collars, the Shattuck Avenue shop whose marquee once read, “Yes, a store just for dog collars,” has said farewell to Berkeley and relocated across the country to Tennessee, where its founder, Ana Poe, recently moved. The new location will put the company closer to the lucrative East Coast dog competitions and trade shows. The Berkeley store closed on May 15. Two of Paco’s Bay Area employees will continue working for the company remotely.
-
3 weeks ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton
The intersection of University and San Pablo avenues, which tattered banners proclaim is named International Marketplace to recognize the area’s many multicultural businesses, was once the gateway to Berkeley and its university for those arriving by ferry. More than 100 years later it continues to play that role for drivers coming off the nearby I-80 off-ramp.
-
3 weeks ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
Find out which stores have opened, closed or moved and what’s new in Berkeley’s nonprofit, retail and small-business communities. If you have updates to share, send an email to [email protected].
-
1 month ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton
Berkeley Free Clinic, the volunteer-run health center founded by street medics caring for people injured during the 1969 battles over People’s Park, is moving from the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church — its home for nearly its entire history.
-
1 month ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
Two West Berkeley cycling businesses, each with a decade or more in the city, closed nearly simultaneously earlier this year — the consequence, they say, of a contraction of the cycling industry after a surge in sales during the pandemic. Berkeley Cycle Works, located on San Pablo Avenue, near Cedar Street, and Wrench Science, a custom bike building shop near San Pablo and Ashby, both closed in February, citing the headwinds facing the industry.
-
1 month ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
The Claremont, the 276-room luxury hotel at the foot of the Berkeley Hills, has changed hands for at least the 10th time in its 110-year-history — and the fifth since 2007. After a decade of operation under the Fairmont flag, management of the property passed to HEI Hotels + Resorts in February, two years after the hotel was sold to Ohana Real Estate Investors by the estate of Richard Blum, the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The hotel’s official name has changed to the Claremont Resort & Club.
-
2 months ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
Find out which stores have opened, closed or moved and what’s new in Berkeley’s nonprofit, retail and small-business communities. If you have updates to share, send an email to [email protected]. Closed ElmwoodAfter eight years selling artisan-made goods, including clothing, jewelry, handbags and kitchenware, Palm + Perkins closed its College Avenue shop on March 21.
-
2 months ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
A new neighborhood grocery store has popped up on the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Cedar Street, across from Acme Bread, in a space formerly occupied by Animal Farm Discount Pet Foods. Green Leaf Grocery Market sells a variety of canned and packaged foods, with an emphasis on organic goods, according to owner Moheeb Eltareb. Eltareb grew up working in his parent’s liquor store in Merced, but he has a very different vision for Green Leaf. “I’m not a big fan of liquor stores,” he said.
-
2 months ago | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
Creative Growth Art Center, the 50-year-old Oakland-based studio and gallery for artists with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD), is opening its first satellite space on the ground floor of The Grinnell, a new affordable housing apartment building on San Pablo Avenue for families and people with disabilities. “We’re excited about our new space and the possibilities it holds for Creative Growth and our community,” said Ibby Sasso, the nonprofit’s marketing director.
-
Mar 6, 2025 | 
berkeleyside.org | Nathan Dalton |Zac Farber
After 11 years in Berkeley and five years at its current location in the Gilman District, Laurel Burch Studios is closing its flagship store on the corner of Eighth and Camelia streets because the building is being sold.
