After over 50 years in the business, a Berkeley landmark shut its doors this weekend for good. After several moves, and the closing of two other locations in recent years, Cody’s shut the door on its final location on Shattuck Ave. Reports on the closure remembered Cody’s as a backdrop for the Free Speech movement and having suffered a fire bombing and attempted bombing during the Salman Rushdie controversies. The following was some of the reporting that we saw:
Here is a farewell address at Cody’s website.
Fora.tv has an archive of author readings at the store.
The Berkeley Daily Planet has a story and some depressing images.
The Chronicle cited the inroads of the internet and chains into independent bookstore sales, which now command a dismal 3% of the market.
The Chronicle also reported on the 2006 closing of the Telegraph Ave. location.
The NY Times followed suit in 2006 upon the closing of the Telegraph store.
NPR’s Morning edition had a story in 2006 about the Telegraph closure.
