WEST BERKELEY FENCING CLUB The renovation of the former Freight & Salvage space at 1111 Addison St. (at San Pablo) is now complete and the West Berkeley Fencing Club has launched a new schedule of classes this month. The club, which was founded by Mark Headley, offers four full sized fencing strips and two coaching strips on a compressed bamboo floor, a stretching room with fitness equipment, as well as a lounge area with a big-screen TV showing, of course, fencing. [Disclosure: West Berkeley Fencing Club advertises on Berkeleyside — and Berkeleyside readers can get 10% off their first month of classes. Click here for details.]
KNA COPY CENTRE KNA Copy Centre — the store with the historical photos of Berkeley in the windows, just down from Oaks Theatre on Solano Avenue — closed up shop at the end of December. The Kamala family who own the store posted a note on the door before Christmas to say that it was with a heavy heart they were shuttering. “We have loved being a part of the Thousand Oaks community for the past ten years,” they wrote. KNA opened in 2003. [Hat tip: Ira Serkes.]
EPOCH FRAMEWORKS Another business that is closing up for good is Epoch Frameworks at 2199 Bancroft Way (at Oxford) in downtown Berkeley. Epoch is closing simply because its owner is retiring. [Hat tip: Wendy Cohen.]
DREAM ICE CREAM Music store Rasputin on Telegraph Avenue began selling ice cream last month in its store-within-a-store, Dream. Rasputin owner Ken Sarachan fought opposition to the concept in City Hall, not least from the owners of the wildly popular ice-cream sandwich spot C.R.E.A.M. (Cookies Rule Everything Around Me) which is located directly opposite Rasputin, but eventually prevailed. (Read the full, fun-filled story.) Dream is serving organic ice cream developed by Atomic Ice Cream owner Ray Lai who already sells his ice cream at another Sarachan business, Blondie’s Pizza.) Rasputin and Dream are at 2401 Telegraph Ave.
Shop Talk is our regular column in which we post updates on Berkeley businesses. If you’re a Berkeley business with news, or a Berkeleysider who has spotted a change in your neighborhood or on your travels, shoot us an email with the details. Read previous Shop Talk columns, and check out Bites for the latest East Bay restaurant news.