Robert’s son has taken over at Robert’s Hot Tubs, new to Fourth Street. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.

Joanne Furio
Berkeley lawn bowlers have been rolling bowls in Poet’s Corner since 1928
Yes, bowls, not balls! The club is enjoying a pandemic-fueled renaissance. Meanwhile, its unused green could become a public park.
Shop Talk: New school and club sails into the Berkeley marina; tech company turns worker co-op
Inspire Sailing opened at the marina a year ago. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.
Low-tide sandbar has hosted clam bakes, live chickens and even a wedding
Since 1978, they’ve been coming on sailboats, kayaks, rowboats, canoes and dragon boats to celebrate low tides twice a year on the Ashby Shoal, which is usually underwater.
Shop Talk: Perfumery at former Spenger’s site sells fine scents (nothing fishy); superheroes in North Berkeley
Le Labo, part of an upscale international chain of perfume shops, opened quietly during the pandemic on Fourth Street. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.
At Berkeley’s queer tango class, it takes 2 but it doesn’t matter who
“Queer tango is Argentine tango without the homophobia, transphobia and rigid heteronormative rules,” says a co-founder of Abrazo Queer Tango, open in Berkeley since 2012
Shop Talk: Westbrae Nursery turns into worker co-op; no rivalry for lamp sellers on Solano
Westbrae Nursery, in existence since the 1930s, now has seven worker-owners. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.
How to cook with the East Bay’s bounty of cherry plums
Wild plums, the freely found fruit of the East Bay, can become chutney, ice cream or liqueur.
This delicious fruit is free for the taking across the East Bay
You’ve seen cherry plums spattered on the sidewalk and smashed them underfoot, but they’re actually a forager’s dream.
Shop Talk: The Berkeley jeweler favored by rockstars; Berkeley Garden Club turns 90
Jeweler David Giulietti started out making armor in high school and has worked with metal ever since. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.
Shop Talk: Berkeley car repair shop has ‘changed with the times’; ‘Far & Few’ is back
Drawn to anti-war Berkeley as a 21-year-old mechanic, Ken Shapiro has been fixing cars in the city for 50 years. Catch up on this and other Berkeley retail and small business news.
At Berkeley gallery, student photos of Hong Kong protests get rare showing
Organizers of the ‘Echoes of Defiance’ exhibition at Fourth Street Fine Art say it’s the first time student photos of the 2019 street protests have been shown overseas.