Cody’s books of Berkeley closes
Disappointed customers of Cody’s Books, Berkeley’s legendary bookstore, mill around the closed…
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BERKELEY — “Heartbreaking,” the owner said.
Revived once when on the verge of bankruptcy, Cody’s Books of Berkeley has closed for good. There is no evidence a savior will emerge — as one did before — to save the iconic retailer.
Hiroshi Kagawa, a bookstore owner and English books distributor in Japan, bought Cody’s Books in 2006 from owner Andy Ross to save it from bankruptcy. But on Friday, Kagawa wrote to founder Pat Cody to apologize for his inability to maintain the same level of support and announce the closure of the store, at 2201 Shattuck Ave.
“I could not protect Cody’s from the financial crisis it has faced over the past few years,” wrote Kagawa, who opened the Shattuck location April 1. “I have done my best and spent millions, but sadly I am unable to keep this landmark independent bookstore… open. Today, Cody’s will shut its doors … it is a heartbreaking moment to give this news.”
“General Manager Mindy Galoob said the reaction from the community has been overwhelming.” The e-mails are just pouring in. We here are collectively sad,” she said of the store’s 22 employees, all of whom lost their jobs.
Management had been trying to find sources of cash flow to keep Cody’s afloat during the summer when sales are typically low in the university town. “But one by one, things fell through,” Galoob said. Cody’s does not have any intention of pursuing commerce online, Galoob said. Anirvan Chatterjee, founder and chief executive officer of the literary search engine BookFinder.com, also in Berkeley, said he was saddened by the news.
“Cody’s was incredibly important to me in discovering large chunks of other worlds,” he said. Chatterjee said the bookstore offered a variety of titles, including specialty tomes. For instance, he said, they carried an array of books on disability studies. Chatterjee said Cody’s closure is another sign of challenges facing independent bookstores, which are seeing increased competition from online retailers and chain booksellers.
“Actually, about as many new independent bookstores are opening as are closing. But the new ones tend to be specialized,” said Chatterjee. “It’s harder to be an independent general bookstore.”
The venerable Berkeley bookstore was founded in 1956 by the Fred and Pat Cody on Euclid Avenue near UC Berkeley. In 1965, the Codys expanded and moved to what would become the store’s flagship location, at Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street. Fred and Pat Cody introduced in-store author readings as well as quality paperbacks. At the time, these were innovative ideas.
In 1977, the Codys sold the store, which by then had become an institution, to local businessman Andy Ross. Fred Cody died in 1983.
The store took risks. When Islamic extremists threatened author Salman Rushdie with death for his work “The Satanic Verses,” Cody’s featured him at a reading in 1989. The bookstore was damaged that February by a firebomb thrown through a window, but the store continued selling the novel.
Ross opened a branch of the bookstore at 1730 Fourth St. in Berkeley in 1997, and later expanded to a location on Stockton Street in Union Square in San Francisco.
But faced with declining revenues, Ross closed the Telegraph Avenue store in 2006. In 2007, he closed the San Francisco store. Deeply in debt, Ross sold Cody’s, which by then was down to its sole location on Fourth Street, to Kagawa in 2006. Kagawa moved the store’s location from the chic Fourth Street site to a smaller space on Shattuck Avenue, which opened April 1.
Reach Francine Brevetti at 510-208-6416 or fbrevetti@bayareanewsgroup.com.