OAKLAND — If you’re looking for a hard-to-find magazine, Issues is the store to visit. In fact, that’s why the shop was founded 11 years ago by Joe Colley and his life partner, Noella Teele.
“We were looking for a magazine one day that Joe, a composer, was featured in. We couldn’t find the magazine anywhere. So we decided at breakfast one day that’s what we should open,” a store where one could find rare magazines.
Colley had worked for Tower magazine, a division of Tower Records, and Teele had managed a record store. They took the leap. They opened June 1, 2007, on Glen Avenue, just off Piedmont Avenue in an inviting picturesque shop. Sold there were rare magazines, books, cards, notebooks, vinyl records, T-shirts and gift items.
Now Issues is moving. At press time, the store was to be in their new MacArthur Annex location as of Thursday at 644 40th St., Suite #102. Their last day on Glen Avenue was Sunday. The hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. The move is a quick turnaround for the couple, who had operated on a month-to-month lease for 10 years at their previous location.
“It became more manageable to be in a different location,” Teele said. “More security from a stable lease with the rent much more affordable. This is a new era into the future.”
The new store space for Issues is smaller — some 300 square feet. Issues will no longer stock vinyl records, as there is a record store nextdoor to them. Teele admits challenges outfitting the new space, but “customers can still expect to find obscure magazines like Apartamento, a Spanish magazine, Flow, a lifestyle-themed magazine, and numerous music magazines.
They also carry a selection of books about art, music and biographies — “pop culture books,” as Teele calls them. The store has hosted a variety of events year-round since opening and is planned to continue doing so at its new space — art shows, book readings, holiday and store anniversary parties. Colley and Teele have set up an Indiegogo campaign at igg.me/at/issues/x/18683225 at which supporters can donate to the relocation costs and win prizes for doing so. The couple wants to thank all their supporters and customers at the Piedmont Avenue location.
“Whether you have shopped in our store, stopped in for a visit or attended one of our events, you have been part of the Issues family, and we are so grateful. We are leaving Piedmont Avenue with fond memories and full hearts,” the couple wrote to their customers.