At The Campus Store on Euclid Avenue, customers can always be guaranteed three things: freshly made sandwiches in the front, aisles stocked with various snacks and drinks and, of course, employee Chris Llave striking up a friendly conversation at the register.

For the past 25 years, Llave has worked at different businesses on Northside. In 2011, he started working at The Campus Store, and ever since then, he’s become a staple on that corner.

“(Llave) is very friendly, he’s outgoing and you can tell that he’s involved in the community, because he’s always got a conversation going on,” said UC Berkeley junior and store regular Henry Brown. “It’s nice to have a local business that feels like it cares about its customers.”

Llave is at The Campus Store nearly seven days a week for up to 13 hours per shift. From people who come in for a quick stop on their way to work to students pulling all-nighters during dead week, Llave has seen community members from all walks of life, at all times of day.

According to Llave, his favorite part of his job is conversing with customers and, eventually, creating a familiar rapport through checking up on small details mentioned in another visit or remembering someone’s sandwich order.

“Those little 30-second to one-minute conversations … it makes it easier, being in a place for that long of a time,” Llave said. “It makes the time go by seeing like, you know, at least 300 people a day. … Dealing with students makes me feel like twice younger than my age, you know, because I feel like I’m just their age too.”

One of the qualities that makes Llave stand out, according to 2024 campus graduate and Northside resident Maddie Komlos, is how he gives regulars discounts or will let them run tabs if they’re out of money or EBT balance.

Llave said this trust is his way of giving back to the community and customers who support the store.

“You might tend to overlook something, like, ‘Oh, someone who runs a corner store,’ but those kinds of people are the backbone of what makes communities livable,” Komlos said. “(Llave) is just somebody that it is such a privilege to be close to, even if you just go there to get a Red Bull or something. You feel that exchange (that) is so important in making communities feel more human and less artificial.”

Llave said the daily exchanges and support he has with the Berkeley community keep him going. He said he can’t imagine living in any other city, on any other block.

With the support from his coworkers, boss and customers, he hopes to continue being a familiar face on Euclid Avenue.

“Recognizing the regulars — that’s the beauty of my job,” Llave said. “You know, having a nice, unique relationship with the student, asking them about their day, and letting them know about my day, it’s like we’re in this whole thing together.”