Take heed, oh readers, for the latest exciting episode in the Cody’s Books drama has unfolded. The bookstore’s location on Fourth Street closes in a few weeks, moves, and reopens again at a new site. At the end of March, the retailer flings open its doors to a bigger, better clientèle–and what human masses are bigger or better than the ones that cycle day-in and day-out through the downtown Berkeley BART station, situated but across the street from Cody’s new, prospective location?

That’s right–the ghost of Eddie Bauer will linger no longer. To the delight of book lovers and pavement loiterers alike, the new Cody’s opens on the corner of Allston Way and Shattuck Avenue on Mar. 24. Citing “skyrocketing rents” on Fourth Street–the world manages not to slide off its axis in collective shock–Cody’s store managers hope that revenues and foot traffic will benefit from Berkeley’s swingin’ downtown nightlife. Oxymoronic? Nah.

Cody’s in its newest incarnation features a smaller store and a slightly altered book inventory. Rather soberingly, store managers stress that the old business model of both breadth and depth is no longer a functional one. Translation: Cody’s, that good steady flagship of independent bookstores, no longer stocks everything your wee heart desires. O, noble institution! We here at the Clog salute your admirable, clench-teethed decision to finally capitulate in the face of soulless modern corporate-chain business models.

For those not up to date on their current events, Cody’s closed their Telegraph Avenue location in 2006 to mass consternation and woe. Previously, another store opened in San Francisco in 2005. That location shut its doors a mere two years later, in 2007. No one’s sure exactly why, but shady rumors about Borders and Starbucks abound. Starbucks? Oh, wait.

Stores closing and opening again seem to be all the rage these days. Here we thought we only just finished mourning the demise of Avant Card when, praise the lord, it reopened too.

Image: Aloys5268 under Wikimedia Commons
Cody’s Books Announces Move to Downtown [Daily Cal]
Cody’s closes one store, opens another [The Mercury News]

Almost a year after the original Cody’s Books closed its doors on Telegraph, the corporate monster that is Barnes & Noble is closing its Shattuck Ave location after today.

So yes, today’s the last day to go in there and get your extremely cheap and shitty Danielle Steel novels or your extremely cheap tenth copy of _The Da Vinci Code._

For one, Barnes & Noble is closing because the company wants to “consolidate” its shit. Company spokesperson Lenore Feder said:

bq. … there are other branches within five miles of the Berkeley location, including in Emeryville and El Cerrito, that can serve the community.

College students aren’t going to ride the bus or the BART to Emeryville or El Cerrito to go to a bookstore. It’s even worse than having the store on Shattuck Ave.

Second, the store says it didn’t have enough space to add a cafe or a newstand. Um, we know it’s a growing trend in all those corporate bookstores, but did we really need another Starbucks in a college town?

Well, whatever the reason the store failed, let’s just put another tally mark on the online side of this battle. And at least in Berkeley it’s Online: 2, Bookstores: 0.

Downtown Bookstore Will Shut Down Today [Daily Cal]