by Ken Katz Mother’s Day without flowers would be like Christmas without trees or Hanukkah without latkes. That being the case, rejoice over the fact that Grand Lake residents have easy access to three flower shops on the same block — each with its own unique charms: Lee’s Discount Florist, Brother and Sister Flower Shop […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News
Grand Avenue Merchant News – April 2022
by Ken Katz The three-story commercial building at 3645 Grand, which was constructed in 1964, was sold in 2018. Shortly thereafter, the new owners emptied the building with the expectation that it would be turned into condos. After two years of heavy construction that included new HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and a lot of other high-end […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – March 2022
by Ken Katz Radbird Fashion and Consignment, which just celebrated the 5th Anniversary of their location in Berkeley next to the Claremont Hotel, quietly opened its second location at 3223 Grand a couple of weeks ago. The owner, Lori Tiedemann, chose Grand Avenue for a number of reasons. One being that the new shop is […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – February 2022
by Ken Katz If you’re already missing the Grand Avenue Knimble, you can ease withdrawal symptoms by popping into the Urban Furniture shop across the street to visit the mannequins that director Tracey Weaver adopted. More importantly, if you’re worried about empty storefronts on Grand, you can take comfort in knowing that several vacancies are […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – January 2022
by Ken Katz The best Grand Avenue news this month came in the form an article in The Oaklandside by C. J. Hirschfield announcing that the annual City Noir Film Festival was moving from San Francisco to the Grand Lake Theatre. Produced, programmed, and hosted by “Noir Czar” Eddie Muller, this year’s festival, titled “They […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – December 2021
by Ken Katz We don’t typically spend a lot of time in beauty supply stores or barber shops, but a Friday afternoon visit to Grand Avenue turned out to be a treasure trove of information and photo opportunities. Mimi Moon, the owner of J & J Beauty Supplies, says she’s been in business at 3242 […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – November 2021
by Ken Katz In the May 2021 Grand Avenue Business report we happily reported that “the reopening of Knimble earlier this week was the very best news on the retail front.” Six months later, we are regrettably reporting that the big news on the retail front this month is their upcoming closure in January 2022. […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – October 2021
by Ken Katz Tomorrow will be a memorable day on Grand Avenue. For starters, Michael’s Chocolates (owned and operated by Michael Benner) is hosting a soft opening beginning at noon in the space recently vacated by Michael Mischer. He will continue serving Almare Gelato, and chocolates of course–though Michael B. was quick to note that […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – September 2021
by Ken Katz Maestro? A drumroll please.We have several exciting developments to report, beginning with… Bake Sum quietly opened a couple of weeks ago, albeit with very limited hours on Fridays and Saturdays only until they are fully staffed and trained. The interior is very well done and our hats are off for anybody that […]
Grand Avenue Merchant News – August 2021
Editor’s Note: A comment posted on last month’s Grand Avenue merchant update prompted us to take a long walk this past Friday from the theater up to Safeway and back–something we hadn’t attempted for a very long time. As a result, we can now report on Pacific Nail’s closing, a change in ownership at what […]