The UC Berkeley store

The UC Berkeley location was previously a video arcade called The Bearcade. It had a small but loyal following. After we took over the space a group of angry students got together on an internet message board and made plans to storm the store, vandalize it, and terrorize the staff. Fortunately, their plan was thwarted.

In February of 2006 we opened store #4, the Naia Lounge. Located right on the UC Berkeley campus under Ludwig's Fountain (yes, the ceiling constantly leaked) in Lower Sproul Plaza.
We were attracted by an incredibly cheap rent, massive space and captive audience.

Construction at UC Berkeley was difficult to say the least. We weren't allowed to bid out the construction. We were required to use the University's plumbing and electrical people who weren't typical contractors, so they couldn't provide us with either a time or dollar estimate of the work. Later,a nameless office at UC Berkeley simply sent us a bill when it was all done, and that bill was enormous.

We were able to make up some of that money when we later learned that only a few electrical circuits where ever hooked up to the meter. Every month we were only billed a small fraction of the electricity we were using. (allegedly)

Because of a personal connection we were able to purchase really fancy Italian furniture, at cost, direct from Italy to outfit all of our shops. (Segis, for you furniture nerds.) It's a good thing it was cheap because the Cal students ended up stealing a good deal of it. I am certain these couches are still being slept on by some student somewhere in Berkeley.

Our lounge could comfortably hold over 125 people. It played host to concerts, readings, open mic events, club meetings, study groups, a standup comedy series, live djs, and a variety of other student performances.

Unfortunately, this was the one store that didn't work out for us.

For future entrepreneurs, a subterranean store on a school campus that is only open on school days, where you can also buy a whole burrito for the same price as the gelato you are trying to sell, is not the best business decision. More importantly, and I can’t stress this enough, never ever enter into an agreement where students are your landlord.