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].
Reopened Northwest Berkeley
Berkeley Potters’ Studio reopens gallery and shop after pandemic hiatus
The Berkeley Potters’ Studio’s annual holiday sale may have come and gone, but fans of ceramics can buy pots, mugs, vases and more from the 50-year-old studio year-round, now that the gallery and shop in the Gilman District have reopened for the first time since before the pandemic.
Reopening the gallery was a goal of executive director Bobbi Fabian, who took the helm when the studio became a nonprofit in 2021.
“We’re much more community-oriented now,” she said. “We have a lot more classes. We’re diversifying our community and we’re relaunching the gallery, which is really exciting because it was kind of like a dead space for a long time.”
“They used to do shows on a regular basis,” added Serene Fang, a studio volunteer who oversees the gallery. “They would hold receptions. It was just a nice space for people to see the work.”
But during the pandemic the gallery was used as office space to keep employees spread apart. “It was just boxes of paper, and people’s desks, and computers, and nothing to see,” said Fang. “I think people forgot that there was a gallery and a shop attached to our studio, even though there’s roughly 600 people making pots here.”
The gallery currently features the work of 40 artists, all of whom are connected to Berkeley Potters’ Studio — members and teachers and visiting artists.
The gallery also showcases the specialized equipment available to members, according to Fang. “The makers in this studio have the opportunity to experiment with many parts of the process that are typically off-limits in most other ceramic settings,” she said.
Fang points to the work of Kate Gibbs and her partner, Matt Fishman, as an example. Both work with wild clay and make their own glazes from rocks and other natural materials they dig up themselves, such as sandstone found from Albany to Richmond, shale from Napa, and granite from the Sierras.
“In order to make the glazes out of rocks, they have to have access to a kiln they could fire to heat the rock to make it friable. Those are all things they managed to do here,” she said.
Taka Unno, an audio and hearing research engineer who took up pottery during the pandemic, is another artist whose work couldn’t be made at most public pottery studios.
“He makes his own glazes and he soda fires in our kiln, which is a really specialized kiln,” said Fang. “I don’t know anywhere in the Bay Area where you can get trained on a soda kiln and then rent it.”
Beth Rockmill is a geneticist who uses a raku kiln in her ceramics work. Potters use this type of kiln to achieve specific looks, according to Fang. “Often crackled, colorful, sometimes iridescent surfaces depending on the techniques used,” she said. “Again, typically you can’t access raku kilns very easily.”
Items in the gallery range from $10 for sake cups to $2,000 for sculptural pieces. “The average price is around $40-60, which is the typical range for pottery’s most popular item: mugs,” said Fang.
Sales from the gallery are split between the studio and the potters. “ We take a commission and the artists get most of the proceeds,” said Fabian.
The gallery also has a section where 100% of the revenue goes to the Maija Williams Scholarship Fund for BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ people created to “increase diversity, support young people interested in exploring ceramics and provide opportunities for underrepresented populations to explore all aspects of ceramics,” according to the website.
Berkeley Potters’ Studio, 1221 Eighth Street, Berkeley. Phone: 510-528-3286. Gallery shop hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Connect via Instagram.
In the Spotlight Southwest Berkeley
Influent Home, a furniture shop on San Pablo Avenue, expands its showroom
Michael Garig knows how to fill up space. He’s run his own interior designer business since 2007 and opened Influent Home, a boutique furniture and home accessories store on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley in 2015. So when he had the chance late last year to expand his shop, he knew just what to do.
“We bought a whole bunch of new furniture and now we’re able to really showcase sofas and dining room tables and chairs,” said Garig. “I can sell 50 or 60 vases every day, but that’s not going to pay the rent.”
The shop, which moved to its current location in 2021, has expanded its square footage by 50%, taking over part of the space that was vacated by Paisan Restaurant which closed in 2022.
The new, bigger space also allows Garig to host events, including monthly “Plus One” parties where clients are invited and encouraged to bring along friends who may be interested in Influent Home’s wares and services.
Influent Home has four full-time employees and also offers interior design services, from large jobs that cover everything from the ground up (lighting, plumbing, all the finishes) to smaller jobs like bathrooms and bedrooms. The store also offers shoppers basic design recommendations and staff members give paint color consultations.
Garig hopes the new space, and his ability to show larger items, will allow him to scale back on his interior design services, which takes up a lot of his time.
“I’m working way too many hours and I have been for a couple of decades,” said Garig. “I’m ready to slow it down a little bit.”
Shoppers can still pick up smaller items like planters, pillows, throws, lamps, coasters, mirrors, lamps, and the vases Garig mentioned, which are handmade in Thailand and “look kind of like different things from the sea,” and still the shop’s best-selling item at $135. Larger items include cabinets, shelves, desks, tables, rugs, and the Swanky Compadre sofa, which costs $3,400.
“There’s a little bit of everything,” said Garig. “The key is just trying to get things that other people can’t get. It’s really hard to compete with the internet.”
Influent Home, 2520 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. Phone: 510-900-1628. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Connect via Facebook.
Open West Berkeley
Eileen Fisher, women’s fashion line, opens first new store in 7 years on Fourth Street
Eileen Fisher, the women’s wear line which began in New York City in 1980 with $350 in seed money and has gone on to become a celebrated brand available worldwide, has opened a new location on Fourth Street.
The Berkeley location is the 57th Eileen Fisher store worldwide, and the ninth in California, but the first the company has opened in seven years, according to Sabrina Abraha, assistant manager of the Fourth Street location. There are four other locations in the area: in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Mill Valley and an outlet in San Leandro. “We have a super dedicated following in the Bay Area,” said Abraha, and added that Berkeley, and especially, Fourth Street is the perfect fit for the brand.
Reuse is promoted by the company. “We have a wonderful recycling program where you bring back any Eileen Fisher piece, no matter the age, and you get $5 of store credit per item,” said Abraha. “They’ll be made into new clothing, they’ll be made into pillow covers, and all kinds of different things.”
The brand is a certified B Corporation, which means they “voluntarily meet high criteria for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency,” according to its website.
“We’re really about sustainability and making sure that what can be recycled and renewed gets a new life,” said Abraha.
Eileen Fisher, 1809 Fourth St., Berkeley. Phone: 510-295-0004. Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Connect via Facebook and Instagram.
Open Northwest Berkeley
Grand Opening and the Illusion Room bring local art and a roadside attraction to Berkeley
Grand Opening, an “alternative art salon” celebrated its grand opening on Fourth Street near Gilman Avenue on Oct. 21.
The art space, housed in the former office of a paint factory, was founded by artist Jovi Vidal and musician and KALX DJ Maria Yates. Vidal and Yates rent studio space in an adjoining warehouse, and when the gallery space opened up, they jumped at the chance to create a venue to show and sell local art.
Vidal is an educator at NIAD Art Center in Richmond, and is funding Grand Opening out of their personal savings. “I think I have a year and then I’ll run out of money,” Vidal said. “It’s an experiment more than a business.”
Both Vidal and Yates have deep ties to the music and art scene in the East Bay and both ran DIY music venues in the past, according to Vidal.
The salon currently has five artists on view. Each artwork falls under one of two pricing models. A yellow sticker means the price is firm. A green sticker means the price is negotiable. But all the artwork is priced to sell. Nothing costs more than $300 and there are many offerings for $20 or less. Proceeds are split 50/50 between the gallery and the artists.
Grand Opening is also home to the Illusion Room, which Yates calls “Berkeley’s biggest, best, only roadside attraction.”
Tickets to the Illusion Room, “an immersive space of illusions for the eyes, ears, and mind,” according to Yates, are $4. Before entering, visitors remove their shoes, hand over their phones, which are placed under lock and key (although they never leave one’s possession), and grab a tea cup. What awaits you inside are a tranquil soundscape, a thermos of herbal tea from nearby Blue Willow Teaspot, some peaceful alone time and visual illusions that we won’t ruin by describing.
Visitors can pick up an Illusion Room T-shirt ($20) or bumper sticker ($4) in the gift shop after exiting.
Grand Opening, 1230 Fourth St., Berkeley. Hours: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Connect via Instagram.
Open South Berkeley
Nineteen87 Salon offers hair and nail care and a little bit of everything
A new salon has taken over the space vacated by American Haircuts on Ashby Avenue just off Adeline Street.
The aptly named Nineteen87 Salon offers more than just haircuts, however. “We do nail care, hair, facials, waxing, eyelash extensions, we do everything,” said shop owner Remy Ngo.
Ngo has been a nail stylist for 26 years, working mostly at Happy Nails in Alameda, which her husband owned. Her hair stylist, John Khuu, also has more than two decades worth of salon experience working at La Princesse Salon and Spa, also in Alameda.
“John is the expert about hair,” said Ngo, “and I’m the expert at nails.”
Ngo is hoping to treat her customers to a real spa experience. “We don’t want people to get in, get out,” she said. “We want to take time for everyone to enjoy, to laugh.”
Nineteen87 Salon, 1987 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. Phone: 510-854-8070. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
In brief
Biz Buzz: Heat pump business supports Berkeley High athletics; local veterinarian honored by Vox
- A Berkeley High School alum is giving back to his school’s sports program, one heat pump at a time. Owen Krebs Grimsich played football and volleyball for the Yellowjackets in the mid-2000s and is currently the head coach of the JV football squad. After teaching math for five years, he decided to make a career pivot, took a training course in heat pump installation, and started Yellowjacket Heating and Cooling Inc, a name that advertises his pride for his alma mater. A percentage of proceeds from each heat pump installation goes to the Berkeley High Athletic Fund to support local coaches.
- A Berkeley veterinarian was honored as one of Vox’s Future Perfect 50, a list of “the scientists, thinkers, scholars, writers and activists working on solutions to today’s (and tomorrow’s) biggest problems.” Dr. Crystal Heath is a shelter veterinarian and animal rights activist who was honored for uncovering how the veterinarian industry is legitimizing factory farm abuses. She is also the founder of Our Honor, a nonprofit organization with the goal to “empower and support animal professionals to speak their conscience, and create a more compassionate world for all species.”
