Cody’s Books

Cody’s, Requiescat in pace. My favorite local bookstore, back when they were on Telegraph. I used to use your 4^th Street store all the time too. And when you opened your downtown SF store just blocks from work, I was there.
Then you closed Telegraph and SF and 4^th Street but, Phoenix-​like, you opened up this location on Shattuck. Walking distance from the Other change of Hobbit, a short drive or bike from Black Oak, replacing the perennial Halloween store in this otherwise empty former Gateway Computer location.
Cody’s, I miss you. I miss strong local independent book stores with deep selections. Cody’s, you were one of the best parts of Berkeley. If you had gotten on the internet sooner, maybe you could have thrived like Powell’s in Portland.
RIP.

Dear Lord and/​or commercial real estate brokers of the East Bay:
Please bring us a new business to this empty space. I can’t handle seeing the Halloween store there one more time. Please let it be financially viable enough to stay an entire year and make me want to spend my money there (at least until I get laid off). Please let it be totally repellent to Berkeley High students. Thank you, Lord.
Amen

Wow, this bookstore rocks! Their layout is great and they staff are friendly.
I especially LOVED their travel selection. Decent California selection and then a whole wall of international travel!
I def will go back here for any travel books.

This store will definitely raise the tone of downtown Berkeley.
Its décor is very much like the Fourth Street Store. The staff is friendly
and HELPFUL. Yes, I too miss the musty old
Sure, it doesn’t have EVERYTHING you might want. But where in the world could you find that? Just be thankful there is an independent book store left in the USA.
Best Sellers are 10% off (I think) Gift wrapping is free.

This is a very weak start. The art, architecture and photography sections are more pathetic than a chain store like Borders (the one star is for the one Rebbecca Horn book).
the poetry section isrough as well.
The store on Telegraph had some really unfriendly employees but they at least had a great selction of Green Integer books (
)
They only had one which I already had.
Opening up a worse store than the one on Telegraph is not going to make it do any better.
Also, selling only new books in close proximity to so many great used book stores is not the best plan.
I will give more stars if they pull it together.

I went in a couple of days ago, and while the shelves weren’t all stocked, the space is large enough to get the job done, and if anybody can do it, Cody’s people can. Welcome to downtown and back near campus, to Berkeley’s many-​striped book-​loving tribe of sophistos. To anyone who’s ever perused a vast chain bookstore and found it savagely lacking for books, let’s hope Cody’s stocks those books. Five stars for good luck, and my best advice: take a measure of the used bookstores’ stocks and put together a killer backlist.

Cody’s is finally open and the store is looking good. There are still several empty shelves that are awaiting to be filled. They even have a few café-​style tables and chairs. The staff is helpful, and they didn’t give me the evil eye as I walked through the door, nor did they ask me to check in my bag. Just one more bookstore on Shattuck that is dangerously close to the office.