On Wednesday, Telegraph Avenue bid goodbye to Volcom, the fashion store that has provided a shopping ground for students for the last four years.
Store manager Damian Kordick said the store closed due to a lack of sales.
“Rent for all the businesses on Telegraph is extremely high,” Kordick said.
Not long ago, Kordick’s finance team decided it would be best not to resign the store’s lease, both for Volcom and for Berkeley customers.
The Volcom brand can be found internationally, and according to Kordick, the company “is thriving.” Still, he noted that clothing stores are “kind of saturated in the Berkeley area, what with Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, different department stores in the city. Basically, it is almost better for our clients to have these different options. But my retail division was not doing really well.”
Kordick said the closure is a little bittersweet. He mentioned he is happy to move on and to see what change might come, but he said he loves Volcom and its atmosphere as “a kind of clubhouse for students, a place where they could come in and study, where they could just sit, talk, relax, watch videos and listen to music.”
There are currently no plans to build another Volcom in the surrounding area. According to Kordick, if another Volcom were to be built, it would need to be in a somewhat more tourist-based area.
In regards to the space that will be leftover from the closing, Kordick said he thinks American Apparel is either going to make it into a men’s store or a continuation of the women’s store, though he is unsure of American Apparel’s exact plans.
Volcom employee Cecil Whiteside, who hails from Southern California, described the closure as “a little bit rough.” He moved to Northern California for school and said he has enjoyed working at Volcom, so “it’’s kind of a letdown,” that the store closed.
Comment Policy
Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.