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 editors@berkeleyside.org.
In the Spotlight West Berkeley
Publishers Group West celebrates 50 years with a blowout party
Revelers at Publishers Group West’s 50th anniversary bash on April 25. Courtesy: Publishers Group West
On April 25, the book distribution company Publishers Group West threw a big party in Berkeley in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
By all accounts, the shindig was a festive affair. Representatives from dozens of bookstores were there, including City Lights Booksellers, Bookshop Santa Cruz, and Green Apple Books, along with personnel from some 60 publishers, and a plethora of former employees. One bookseller called it “probably the last great book party of my lifetime,” according to Elise Cannon, vice president of field sales for the company.
It was a fitting way to ring in a half century for the book distributor, commonly known as PGW, which has had a reputation for throwing the best parties at book expos and trade shows since the beginning.
Charlie Winton. Courtesy of Winton
“I like to say that we were having a party and a business broke out,” founder Charlie Winton once said about PGW.
The distribution company, which is now owned by Ingram Content Group, has a lot to celebrate. Over the years it has distributed bestselling juggernauts like Eckhardt Tolle’s “The Power of Now,” literary phenomena like Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend,” multiple Oprah’s Book Club selections, including Abraham Verghese’s “The Covenant of Water,” and books that went on to become Academy Award winning films like Charles Frazier’s “Cold Mountain.”
Its first breakout book, “50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth” by John Javna, has sold some 5 million copies since its publication in 1989, and has been translated into 23 languages.
Grove Atlantic, Europa Editions, McSweeney’s, Faber Editions, and Berkeley’s own Heyday Books are among the hundreds of clients it has worked with over the past five decades. It distributes titles to bookstores big and small across the U.S., Canada and the UK. It also distributes e-books and audiobooks.
PGW was founded by Winton in 1976 in Palo Alto after realizing that there was a niche to fill distributing books by independent publishers. Within a few years the company moved to a “funky brick office” in Emeryville. It relocated its offices to Berkeley in 1998. The company also has offices in New York. Winton also founded Avalon Publishing Group and Counterpoint Press in Berkeley. He sold PGW in 2002. The company was bought by Ingram in 2016.
Publishers Group West, 819 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Phone: 510-809-3700. Connect via Instagram and Facebook.
Closed West Berkeley
One of the quirkiest art galleries in Berkeley has closed
Debera McKee, the artist who ran the Berkeley Bait and Tackle Art Gallery. Credit: Nathan Dalton for Berkeleyside
Berkeley Bait and Tackle Art Gallery, the fishing supply shop turned art gallery, closed in the fall after less than a year in operation. The gallery was run by Debera McKee, an artist and the longtime caregiver of the building’s owner, William Curry. But after Curry unexpectedly relocated to the East Coast last September, McKee was forced to close the space.
Curry is now living with family in Massachusetts. And McKee is involved in a legal fight with his niece, Kristina Hurley, who served McKee with an eviction notice and filed civil lawsuits against her on behalf of Curry’s estate, for which she is a trustee. McKee has also filed a suit against the estate for materials and labor related to the gallery and for back wages as Curry’s caretaker.
When reached by phone, Kristina Hurley refused to comment other than to say that her uncle has Alzheimer’s disease and is currently doing “very well” and surrounded by family. Curry could not be reached for comment.
The Berkeley Bait and Tackle building is now being sold.
The gallery featured work from local artists working in a variety of media: painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, jewelry and more. Berkeley Bait and Tackle took a small percentage of the sales to cover rent and utilities.
“We are trying to represent people in the neighborhood,” McKee told Berkeleyside last year. “People that maybe are marginalized, people that have never shown their artwork. We’re totally open to having fresh people come through the gallery and showing their artwork and their crafts.”
The gallery also hosted events such as concerts, film screenings, and food pop-ups and rented space to local small businesses to sell their wares.
When the gallery closed McKee had numerous events planned for the space and applied for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status so she could write off many of the expenses. She plans to keep operating the nonprofit, with a new focus on bringing music, arts and crafts to local children’s hospitals. To that end, McKee is currently taking part in The People’s Artist, an art competition presented by Johnny Depp, with a chance to win $25,000, which she would put towards running the nonprofit.
Berkeley Bait and Tackle Art Gallery, 2221 San Pablo Ave. (at Allston), Berkeley.
Moved North Berkeley
Looking Glass Photo moves 15 months after a smash-and-grab robbery
Looking Glass Photo has moved to Rose Street, its fifth location since 1971. Credit: Nathan Dalton for Berkeleyside
After less than two years on Fifth Street, Looking Glass Photo has moved yet again, this time to Rose Street in Berkeley’s North Shattuck neighborhood.
This is the fifth location of the 55-year-old camera shop, which caters to professional and amateur photographers alike. Looking Glass was founded by Peter Pfersick on Telegraph Avenue in 1971 before moving to its longtime home on Oregon Street. Current owner, Jen Waicukauski, bought the business in 2008 and relocated to Ashby Avenue in 2013, and then to Fifth Street in July 2024.
But the company’s short stint on Fifth Street was marred by an early morning smash-and-grab robbery in February 2025, when thieves rammed their car into the shop and made off with $50,000 worth of merchandise. The damage to the building was estimated to exceed $60,000 at the time.
A GoFundMe campaign raised more that $76,000 for repairs and security upgrades at the store.
Along with selling and renting a wide variety of cameras, lenses, lights and accessories, Looking Glass offers photography classes, private lessons and “gear outfitting” consultations.
Looking Glass’s previous location on Fifth Street next door to Photolab. Credit: Nathan Dalton for Berkeleyside
The new Rose Street location, which opened on May 1, is in a neighborhood “full of local culture, beloved independent businesses, warmth, and character,” the company wrote in an Instagram post announcing the move. “It feels like the kind of place where we can keep growing in all the good ways, while continuing to do what we do best: helping photographers find the gear, guidance, inspiration, and support that truly fit their lives.”
Looking Glass Photo, 2095 Rose Street, Berkeley. Phone: 510-548-6888 Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Connect via Instagram and Facebook.
Open Central Berkeley
Black Sheep Theater Company lets kids make their own musicals
Micaela Groman with actors from Black Sheep Theater Company after a performance of the musical Captain Louie Jr. Courtesy: Black Sheep Theater Company
As theaters across Berkeley are closing, a new youth theater company just celebrated its first anniversary in April. Black Sheep Theater, which serves youths aged 10-18, is the brainchild of Micaela Groman, who began working in youth theater as a teen volunteer and went on to work for several East Bay theater companies.
But after 15 years of working in youth theater, and seeing the good and the bad in the industry, Groman decided she wanted to do things her own way.
“I could call myself a stubborn artist,” said Groman. “When you’re working for other people and they have different visions for what the art should be, well I’m the type of person who’s like, ‘I just want to do it all myself.’”
One of the things that was important to her was keeping class sizes small.
“When you’re working for a big company, their money making machine is always going to be how many kids you can get to sign up,” she said. “I really fought them sometimes about how big the casts should be.”
Groman currently works with 11 students at Black Sheep Theater, which rents rehearsal space at Shotgun Studios on University Avenue. She also teaches private voice lessons at students’ homes.
Micaela Groman works with young actors at Black Sheep Theater Company’s rehearsal space in Berkeley. Credit: Black Sheep Theater Company
The Black Sheep season is split into two sessions, a fall production where students write and perform their own musical and an audition-based spring production where students perform an established musical. The upcoming fall production will run from Aug. 8-Dec. 12, with rehearsals each Saturday. Tuition is $850 per student, and partial scholarships are available. Auditions for the next spring production will run from September-October.
Groman said that theater is a place where young people can find their voice and where it’s safe to be themselves. And even after a decade and a half in youth theater, she still gets emotional working with young actors.
“I’ve cried so many times because I get a front row seat at their growth,” said Groman in an email shared with Berkeleyside. “Even kids who are forced in the room by their mom in the beginning, by opening night are front and center, showing off who they are, unashamed, and loved by an entire audience.”
Black Sheep Theater Company, 1201 University Ave., Berkeley. Connect via Instagram.
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