News about great shops in your neighborhood
By Tim Kingston
The grand yellow and black sign declaring, simply, “Books”—nothing more and nothing less—says it all. Located in an unassuming brick-faced building on San Pablo Avenue in West Berkeley, the latest incarnation of Berkeley’s Black Oak Books (now technically Black Oak Books Holdings Corp.) is both enigmatic and inviting.
Priced out of its longtime North Berkeley location last year, the store reopened on San Pablo within a stone’s throw of Good Vibrations and Caffe Trieste on Dec. 17—just in time for the holiday rush. The spacious, well-lit shop smells of fresh bookshelves, but longtime Black Oak fans will be reassured to know that the new location still features a sprawling collection of not-so-new books. As of this writing, in fact, secondhand reads are literally center stage: The site was once home to the legendary Ruthies Inn punk-metal club and Rountrees R&B club, and the performance area once graced by the Dead Kennedys and B.B. King is strewn with books to be shelved. “Once we get the books off the stage,” says staffer Jennifer Starling, “we are planning on having a cafe and readings for a different kind of performance.”
According to Starling, “Lots of people are coming in saying, ‘Thanks for opening.’ Customers from the old store are following us, and neighbors nearby are saying they are delighted to have a new bookstore in the neighborhood.” And compared to parking in North Berkeley, snagging a space on wide-open San Pablo is an undiluted pleasure.
Black Oak Books Holdings Corp., 2618 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, (510) 486-0698; blackoakbooks.com.
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Piedmont Piano Company’s new home in uptown Oakland is a thing of beauty, with a soaring vertical art deco sign and a sparkling, softly lit showroom with honeyed acoustics. Grand pianos line the virtually cinematic arena like row upon row of shiny pachyderms perched on Persian carpets.
“This is a vibrant neighborhood,” says owner Jim Callahan of the business’s new digs. “Flora, Hibiscus, and the Fox Theater are all nearby, as is the Oakland School for the Arts—they get their pianos from us.” The area promises to become livelier still as Piedmont Piano Company stages concerts and other events in the elegantly appointed building. During a January opening gala, top local musicians treated patrons to four days of free live performances.
Callahan had expanded operations from the East Bay to open a San Francisco showroom and concert space but shut those down in 2008, when the rent tripled, and promptly started looking for a new home. “We spent five minutes here and decided this is the space for us,” he says. Originally a Victorian-era hotel, the building was remodeled as a deco furniture store in 1946, and again last year to house the East Bay’s premiere piano emporium. “In 31 years of business our warehouse was always far away,” says Callahan. “Now we are all in one place.” In addition to the “wonderful” retail space for new and used pianos, he pronounces the building’s mezzanine “perfect for music lessons.” Budding musicians can now take lessons at both the new location and the old site on Piedmont Avenue at Pleasant Valley Avenue. “It’s very exciting,” Callahan says, referring to the music-loving company’s new milieu. “Things are getting better and better.”
Piedmont Piano Company, 1728 San Pablo Ave., Oakland, (510) 547-8188; piedmontpiano.com.
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Janet Farina has barely five minutes to talk about her 27 years as proprietor of Freshly Cut; she’s racing off to deliver a gorgeous display from her sliver of a shop across from Monterey Market in Berkeley. Farina specializes in carefully crafted arrangements that lend beauty to businesses around the East Bay, among them Oliveto Cafe and Restaurant, Bette’s Ocean View Diner, and the Carol Ann Read Breast Center. A brilliant collage of magnolias, orchids, and other “as fresh as possible” blossoms perfumes the small Freshly Cut storefront.
When she first set up shop, Farina says, florists were few and far between, and people used “to have to drive across town for flowers.” Over the years, bouquet-buying habits have changed drastically—now “every grocery store in the world is selling cut flowers”—while Farina’s artistry has continued to bloom. These days, instead of popping by for standard-issue posies, customers come to her “for something special.”
As a purveyor of floral fabulousness not only for businesses, but also for weddings, celebrations, and other milestones, Farina sees her job—reasonably enough—as something of a public service. “It is wonderful when people come in and see the flowers; it does good things for the heart,” she says. “There are worse things to do in the world.”
Freshly Cut, 1301 California St., Berkeley, (510) 525-3751; freshlycut.com.
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This time of year, Gary Feiner gets popular. Very popular. A third-generation tax-preparer and president of Feiner Financial Tax Preparation & Planning in downtown Oakland, Feiner combines professional expertise with a reassuring bedside manner. Even off-duty, sitting at Peet’s Coffee on Fourth Street in Berkeley, his soft eyes and reassuring tone could calm a frantic, freaked-out taxpayer at 11:59 p.m. on April 15.
“We very literally cater to our clients,” says Feiner, noting that his firm works with individuals as well as every type of business entity, and handles all tax matters related to estates and trusts. Happy to provide second opinions, Feiner candidly advises those who consult him to stay with their current tax preparer if they are getting a good deal. The firm’s fees for preparing annual tax returns are determined based upon the complexity of the work involved.
Feiner started working in the family business run by his mother when he was a teenager and attended his first audit shortly thereafter. (Now there’s a unique coming-of-age ritual.) Having learned the trade from the ground up, he now mentors young CPAs from major corporate firms who work at his office part-time, getting a taste of real-life tax preparation. By his own account, his lifelong dedication to the tax trade is paying off. “We have a good audit record,” Feiner says. In fact, he corrects himself, “We have a great audit record.”
Feiner Financial Tax Preparation & Planning, 1999 Harrison St., Ste. 700, Oakland, (510) 549-1719; feinerfinancial.com.
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Moved by books. Photo by Tim Kingston.
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