Normally an article about an independent bookstore in Berkeley, CA would catch Coolfer's attention, but it was an article about the legendary Cody's, and it does show how retail has evolved in recent years. Yesterday's NY Times article "In Berkeley, a Store's End Clouds a Street's Future" is noteable for two reasons.

First, the decline of independent bookstores is a trend that is also seen in the music business. There are roughly half as many indie record stores as there were at the end of the '90s. On Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue, a store that symbolized the city's anti-corporate climate finds itself struggling as the communty's demographics change.

But the main reason the article caught my attention is because Telegraph Ave is home to two legendary record retailers, Amoeba and Rasputin. Amoeba co-owner Marc Weinstein, who told the Times the store has lost about a third of its business in recent years (which almost exactly mirrors the skid in the sale of recorded music, by the way), said of the area, "I mean, you can't buy a house for less than $1 million near the university. And if you're rich, you don't want to be on Telegraph."