RSS
The Quirky, Wonderful Market that is the Berkeley Bowl
When I went to Cal, I used to shop at the Berkeley Bowl (whenever I could find parking). So it’s a pleasant surprise to find the quirky market featured in the Los Angeles Times.
Here’s what John M. Glionna wrote about the place where nuts roam the aisles as well as sit on the shelves:
Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another’s cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.
When one shopper was told she couldn’t return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.
The produce emporium — one of the nation’s most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables — creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. So many customers weren’t waiting to pay before digging in that management imposed the ultimate deterrent: Those caught sampling without buying will be banned for life — no reprieves, no excuses. (Not even "I forgot to take my medication.")
(Photo: Randi Lynn Beach / LA Times)
Kitty
xtopher
Geekazoid
Peeves
EEM
NicoNico
gjd
Zombie
CelticCatEyes
Christophe
Tracy
granny annie
