Nin K.
Yelp
This place is enormous and well worth the visit for the scenery, if nothing else. We visited on a particularly sunny day and the light coming into the warehouse made for a pleasant scene. If you're a student or artist (or perhaps both) trying to find reasonably priced furniture, building materials, set props and builds, various mechanic bits and bobs, books or CDs by the bulk, this would be my first and only stop.
The clothing section is a bit small, but was worth a quick ruffle through. The star of the show really is its variety. As a Berkeley thrift, they're a bit more price-savvy than rural competitors may be, meaning "superscores" like a Breville Barista for $10 will be few and far between, but they more than make up for that in their furniture pricing and selection alone. Not to mention any wonders you may stumble upon amongst the heaps and piles of sorted objects strewn loosely about. It has practically everything, with a few standouts being a couple hand sanitizer stands (obvious post-COVID recycles from local establishments), 13 copies of the movie "Babe" on VHS (lined neatly in a row for your aesthetic pleasure), a Looney Toons reference written in sharpie cautioning the handling of a table, and, of course, a shop cat.
Bob the shop cat, to be precise. I first encountered him upon my third, dazed loop of the building, perched atop an ottoman tolerantly receiving pets. Once the petter had moved on, I swooped in; keeping my scratches respectfully to his head, neck and back before yielding to the looming onlookers, who eagerly took my place. I circled the area like a vulture for a bit until they had dispersed, at which point I made my seat on the ottoman next to Bob, who began to loaf, entirely unmoved by my presence. (Pictures below.)
At one point, an employee rounded the corner with gloves and cat bed in hand, intent on their mission. I relinquished my seat and observed them first attempting to coax Bob onto the cat bed--then, when that inevitably failed, gently pulling him backwards off the couch (which predictably resulted in Bob angrily protesting and biting the glove-protected employee.) Upon being released, Bob then sat swishing his tail and pointedly ignoring the employee as they prodded him with the cat bed--once they gave up, cat bed limply in hand, Bob looked over his shoulder to ensure they were gone before curling victoriously back onto the couch.
I took some photos of his unrepentant and lovely face. He is such a small and cute grumpy little grandpa.
Would most definitely return for Bob.
