Happy 1st Birthday! Our organization officially became a California public benefit corporation on May 28th, 2004. Clearly, we are QUITE excited about this, but we have a much more important event to celebrate: little Bahia Washington was born on the very same day. Happy Birthday, Bahia! We love you so much!!

Shop Oakland & Oakland Unwrapped! The Unwrapped! team is working with the City of Oakland to ensure that Oakland offers the most sophisticated tools for local shopping you’ll find anywhere in the country. In a website revamp scheduled for this winter, the City’s Shop Oakland website will provide shoppers with a way to easily find the products they want anywhere in the city. At the same time, Oakland Unwrapped! will allow you to make purchases at many of these stores online, saving busy shoppers precious time. Combined with links to the merchant websites, Oakland’s online access to local businesses will be unparalleled!!

The law is on our side… Big big big thanks to Bill Burdett, Eric Newsom and Mark Schieble at Foley & Lardner for taking us on as a pro bono client. We are THRILLED and very excited to work with you!

On May 16, journalists Heather Hughes, Hansen Hosein, and their black lab Miles, embarked upon a 52-day trip across the U.S. in search of Independent America. Their plan is to travel the country “without setting one tire on an interstate highway – without setting one foot inside a corporate chain restaurant, motel or store.” Can they do it? How different is Independent America from Generica? Will they miss anything??

Follow their travels online and find out. Read their blog, view their podcast videos, check out their photos and more at www.independentamerica.net. Have a great time, Heather and Hanson — we salute you!

Time to Get Outdoors and Grill Some Grub!

Visit these Oakland businesses for your barbecue needs!! From Weber grills and Brinkman smokers to whimsical candles and lip-smacking homemade barbecue sauce, Oakland has everything you need for some quality ‘cue in your backyard…or one of the city’s beautiful parks. Check out our Barbecue Supply Guide.

Laurel True is like one her mosaic masterpieces — a blend of playful, colorful and inspirational. Born in the Midwest, Laurel’s passion for mixed-media mosaics led her as far as Ghana and Italy, but now she’s proud to call Oakland’s Jingletown neighborhood home.

Laurel’s been a mosaics artist for the past 15 years. She creates architectural mosaics, public art, murals, sculptural forms and work for the wall. She was recently awarded the Best Mural in the International category from the prestigious Precita Eyes Mural Center for her “Spirits and Folklore of Ghana� project in Nungua, Ghana. Laurel’s artwork reflects her love of travel, the decorative arts and the urban landscape.

Let Laurel’s enthusiasm and creativity inspire you in one of the many mosaic classes she offers at the Institute of Mosaic Art (IMA). Laurel founded IMA, the first pure mosaic school in the country, right here in Oakland! IMA offers classes in all types of mosaic arts that are open to anyone — no experience necessary.

Where do you get those cool pieces of tile and glass to create your masterpiece? Laurel’s got that covered, too. She recently opened Mosaic Studio Supply store, Oakland’s only retail space that offers everything a mosaics artist needs.

Laurel’s newest creations highlight her playful side — Jingletown Playhouses — the brainchild of Laurel and her partner, Joe Decker. They create special play spaces for your favorite little person. Kids just can’t stay away from these houses and they’re truly works of art, so parents love them too.

Laurel has as much passion for Oakland as she does her artwork and she’s giving back in her very own unique way. Laurel’s last Mosaic Mural Making Intensive class donated a 6′ by 6′ ceramic tile, mirror and fused glass mosaic mural to The Crucible. So get out into the sunshine and go see it! (In fact, you can go to the Crucible July 12-17 to see the annual Fire Arts Festival.)

Cool Merchandise:

• Mosaic supplies, tools & books
• Colorful studio aprons in great African fabrics
• Hand-painted signs
• Mugs, decorative tiles, studio music, shirts & Mexican oil cloth
• One-of-a-kind children’s playhouses from Jingletown Playhouses Cool Services:
• Mosaic classes for all levels: Intro to Ceramic Tile Mosaics; Exterior and Garden Applications; Architectural Applications for Mosaics; Glass Mosaics; Concrete Sculpture

Cool Services:

• Mosaic classes for all levels: Intro to Ceramic Tile Mosaics; Exterior and Garden Applications; Architectural Applications for Mosaics; Glass Mosaics; Concrete Sculpture

Community Impact:

• Mosaic murals donated to local Oakland non-profits
• Hires locally & uses local suppliers
• Participates in East Bay Open Studios

Environmental Impact:

• Reuse of glass and tile
• Beautifies our neighborhoods!

Check out True Mosaic Studios and the rest of Laurel True’s ventures online.

E-commerce development officially starts this week! We have just begun the planning and design phase of our e-commerce site, and need input from local merchants and artists to help design a solution that will work for you! If you’d like to help us make a website that works for your business, send us a message & join our brainstorming group!

Big box retailers do less for the local economy than independent stores. Most people get excited when a big chain says they’re willing to come to town. But studies have shown that money spent at those stores has about 1/3 the impact of money spent at locally-owned independent stores.

This is because of the multiplier effect — money you spend at local independent stores gets multiplied throughout the community, as these stores use local services, hire local residents, and buy from local suppliers. The money recycles throughout the neighborhood, supporting more jobs than a big box store that sends your money outside the community much more quickly. You can read more about the multiplier phenomenon, and the recent studies that support it, here.

No need to trek all the way to the Amazon, when you have lots of amazing bookstores here in Oakland. In fact, you can browse Oakland bookstores at Booksense.com. Just search for your zip code, and you’ll find some of Oakland’s very own independent booksellers. You can even buy books online from some of them. Check it out!

And tell your friends and family across the country. Chances are there’s a Booksense book store near them! http://www.booksense.com

Are you an Oakland bookseller not currently listed on Book Sense? Book Sense Membership is free to American Booksellers Association members. Check their website for more information.