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Categories: Newspapers & Magazines, Music & DVD's, Bookstores
Neighborhood: North OaklandMon-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
"Even better than the new book smell is the old book smell. Even better than new releases from favorite authors are ancient copies of…" read more »
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I stumbled in here when I was walking back from Barney's Gourmet Burgers and I seen in the window this place sold metal magazines and my hard to find "Gothic Beauty" (i get my couture and make-up ideas from this mag.) and I could only get online or I would have to travel 20-50 mile radiuses and sometimes I would have wasted my time because they no longer carried the magazine or they sold out.
I'mma read-a-holic LMAO. I walked and surprisingly it was clean,bright and shiny. My heart felt heavy and my eyes glazed over the selection of sub-culture magazines and they even had they mainstream stuff (I'm a sucker for Vogue). I got 2 magazines and the one I wanted wasn't on the shelf, I walked over to the register and asked "I can't find do you guys have gothic beauty?"
With NO hesitation or procrastination did the nice gentleman get up to help me, he looked around to get me the magazine but he informed me that the last magazine was displayed in the window but without offering me he took it down and rang me up for it. I usually have to beg or pled with people to give the last of the inventory, I found it refreshing rather than pointless to keep something that makes you a profit.
Anyways if in the area and would like reading material while going to be in peete's coffee or starbucks stop on in here grab your mag or even swing a lil hello. I believe it was the owner I spoke with, He let me know that they don't have alot of money to advertise so I let him know that I was going to be reviewing this place.
I will be coming back most definitely
****Extra Points****
If they dont have it, they order it
You want something, they put on hold
This is one of the best newstands by far,every magazine you could ever want,and is in walking distance from everything on Piedmont Avenue.
The owners and staff are great very personable, I am a publisher and read anythinga nd write anything and everything,this palce will give you a host of ideas and inspiration.
OUTSTANDING VENUE
Yeah!! for Issues!
I have lived in Oakland for 10yrs and never knew about Issues store until this summer and I am SO excited.
This small little store off Glen at Piedmont is a little off the beaten path but well worth the short half block walk from main street Piedmont. Every magazine you could possibly imagine is in this shop. It is so great to support a small local business for my reading pleasure rather than Barnes and Noble or some other large chain bookstore.
You walk in, you are greeted with smiles and everything you are looking for is right there.
The owners and staff are VERY friendly and accommodating, the atmosphere is welcoming and it has a very homey small town feeling that leaves you happy to support local.
Thank you Issues! Hope you are around for a LONG time.
Excellent assortment of magazines!
Issues still rules. And they sell my zine (restless legs 2). Go buy it.
I heart Issues. I grew up making late nite visits to DeLauer's on Broadway with my dad to get my Archie, Betty & Veronica, and Richie Rich digests....so it's no mystery to me where I get my insatiable magazine cravings from.
When the News Hunter news and smoke shop closed down a couple years ago I was totally bummed since it was an easy place to get my monthly Living Etc, but then Issues opened and it's 100x better! Hooray!
I love that they'll set aside your fave mags as soon as they arrive and call you for pick up. Cool! No more missed issues.
Best selection of magazines, especially art related magazines, in the Bay Area. They have a smallish book selection that mostly consists of beautiful art books. Many a time I have look through them and got a book that i loved. They can also order you obscure to mainstream book/ magazines as well.
This store is awesome! It's quiet, small-ish, and filled to the brim with every type of magazine imaginable. The only thing they are missing is more types of newspapers. I used to live in the city and every week I would pick up an issue of the Bay Reporter, an lgbt newspaper. It would be nice if they had those free newspapers that seem to not make it across the Bay Bridge.
Otherwise they have all my favorites (Curve, Bark, E, Scientific American, Bitch, etc.) so I'm a happy camper.
So baby do i have Issues but seeing how this is not the place to deal with them I'm gonna review my favourite magazine store in the bay area maybe even in the big ole' world.
Issues is amazing it has all my favourite British music magazine's (I'm an Expat or a Resident Alien as the Department of Homeland Security would have it) and magazines for anyone and everyone.. Movies, Bikes, Skateboarding, Art etc
Issues also has great selection of Record's( on Vinyl kids !!) and interesting selection of books too.
At the holidays i got my Calendar here and believe me it was hard to pick just one out of all the weird and interesting ones they had(in the end i got the Bay Area Accordion Girls w/CD)
I can never leave here without buying something and did i mention the owners are hella kool too
I came here on a mission to buy make/shift and support small publications and small business in one fell swoop.
Having the magazine I was searching for wasn't going to make or break my visit since I can imagine keeping every publication in stock when you carry (literally) hundreds can be hard. But, lo and behold, they not only had it but I found it within seconds. That left me lots of time to browse the shelves and tables to be introduced to lots of other great publications - and a great selection of small press zines.
One of the friends/partners/spouses (?) thoughtfully delivering a burrito to the other for lunch gave Issues a soft spot in my heart.
I know they have a thousand five star reviews, but what the hell: they have a fabulous selection of lit reviews that I can't find anywhere else, and that makes me happy. yay issues!
Yes this place has every magazine you could possibly think of, and then some. But what I have really been impressed with is the rest of the selection. Its not a record store, but its got a five solid crates of records, mostly sealed reprints of classic jazz, funk and rock records. Its not a book store, but the few bookshelves are filled with great finds. They also have dozens of books from the awesome 33 1/3 series, which are biographies of great albums. As far as I know they are the only local store carrying these. The T-Shirts are totally cool. The art show they had of Oakland signage rocked. And there's some other random stuff too.
So yes, if you are looking for a magazine that you can't find anywhere else, this is the place. But Issues also functions as a random gift shop. If you are looking for something different, but don't know what, then just show up and see what catches your eye.
I wet my pants.
I was not prepared at all for the extensive magazine selection.
Good lord. I left empty handed with stars circling my head.
All I could do is nod in acknowledgment to the owner as a sign of understanding.
They hold your common magazines along with a hundred more titles you've never heard of. And that's just in one category! International, fringe, and mainstream -- I love it!
They also have posters, books, and journals.
I overheard one of the owner's talking to another customer about hunting down a certain magazine for a customer. It sounds like they are really committed to finding magazines for their customers. Their shop certainly shows it.
I will come here with in the near future for closer inspection.
Be sure to bring a proper tote bag, reading glasses, and band aids for paper cuts.
Issues is discretely located on a side street. It's fairly small, about the size of a small 7-11.
This Oakland gem is worth the extra step.
How often do awesome people open up an awesome place like no other? Apparently, fairly often in Oakland with places such as the Pretty Penny, Down at Lulu's, and Slash Jeans.
This place is so amazing. Tons of fantastic magazines, small press books and zines, records, original art work, tons of awesome buttons, and I absolutely adore Noella.
I bought the best calendar of all time there- the 2009 Girls and Corpses calendar!
I've been looking for a place that carried my favorite magazine since I moved back up here from LA. I asked these nice peoples at Issues and they actually tracked it down for me! Yes. I'm so happy I could cry~
UPDATE: For the last couple months the nice folks at Issues regularly call me to let me know that my magazine has arrived and is on hold for me to pick up! The magazine is not only hard to find but very fast to sell out, so you can imagine how much I appreciate this level of customer service. I don't have to stop in all the time and worry about missing the latest issue. THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!
There's a reason that Issues is the best-reviewed place in the East Bay, and that reason is that Issues is perfect in every way and could not be improved upon even with supernatural divine powers.
The layout is perfect the selection is superb and well-edited the employees are friendly the music is amazing the clientele is at peace- go there as soon as possible.
incredible selection of magazines, eclectic books and records. great addition to the neighborhood.
Before it was issue i think it was a wedding dress shop? but i never wnet in there, until it became issues!!
its a great mag shop!! We needed a Magazine shop on piedmont ave! it the only place i can find all the tattoo mags i could hope for every month!!
i usually don't turn the corner up from peets, but since issue has been there i walk circles around the ave!
This place is great.
They have an amazing selection of magazines, plus they sell books and records among other things. On top of that, the people who work here are very friendly.
I love this place! I can spend hours and hours looking at all the interesting magazines - spiritual, musical, practical, and more.
AND Peet's is right next door. :)
I love Issues!!! It's a great little place with all kinds of magazines, newspapers, books, and some extra fun stuff like t-shirts, buttons, and plates. It's a small store, but packed with goodness!
As for my personal Issues experience, I asked about if they could get a magazine that I was looking for and they did. I would much rather support a local business than get that "bargain" from a subscription. Plus, it's a nice walk from where I live so I get a little exercise as well, double bonus. So if they don't have something, just ask - you might just get what you're looking for, I did.
Thanks Issues......I'll be visiting again soon.
I admit it: I've got issues. But so do they.
Although located in a less-than-prime spot in the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood, in a sunken leasehold no less, they do have somewhat of a magnetic presence. And always something worth dropping some $ for with every visit.
My favorite bit about this place is the fact that they carry a plethora of offbeat and unconventional reading material for a good chance-purchase every time. Every visit I've made to the shop has been one in that "What realm of strangeness and foreign experience am I in the mood for today?". My quiet, obsessive minutes perusing the magazine racks has not once been interrupted by the shop staff -- and always complemented by some seriously arresting music that makes me feel like I should dress way more hip than I do to be in there.
I can't deny it -- I'm a media junkie. And while I've become a a 21st century digital media consumer (especially when it comes to music and the written word), my first media love is the printed page, specifically periodicals, and the vinyl record.
So I'm extremely thankful that there's an old-fashioned magazine shop with a contemporary attitude in my neighborhood: Issues.
I LOVE this place. The proprietors are good people -- friendly and knowledgeable about their stock and genuinely excited to talk about it. They've got the deepest magazine selection I've seen a long time, and their shelves are packed with not only all the major titles, but also all the wonderful fringe, independent and international periodicals not widely available elsewhere. Add to the mix a great selection of books, curios (buttons and pins, plates and other elegant and/or quirky items featuring hip, timeless and otherwise notable design) and records(!), and you have a truly unique local media outlet.
I'm not one to really rate places after one visit. However, I find that a particularly favorable or non-favorable experience is worthy of a few words.
I just so happened to look inside this place (from the sidewalk) on the way back to my car after having grabbed a coffee from Peete's. I decided to go in because I love magazines. Plus, I've been looking for a magazine shop that carries Sportswear International; one of my fav's. How surprised was I to actually see that they carry it!
The woman who works there, who's name escapes me at the moment, was freindly and very helpful. She seemed to be just a pleasant person in general.
In addition, I have a deep appreciation for concepts. I say this to say that I really dig the name, "Issues"...I get it, and I like it!
And besides the name, besides the pleasant sales associate and besides Sportswear Int., they have a really good, diverse magazine selection. I've been looking for a new magazine home and I found one today...and by pure accident, no less. Good stuff!
I am a bit puzzled about all the 5 stars. It's just ok, not great. They don't have as great a selection as I expected from all the hype yelp reviewers provide here. Service was also underwhelming when I was in. I don't see what sets this apart from any b&n newspaper racks, except B&n has more variety.
It seems less and less responsible a choice to buy paper periodicals. All of these things are online anyways, and I'd much rather download a PDF rather than waste resources and money to look at a bunch of ads and not much information. Most periodicals are a total ripp-off.
I have never seen such a wide variety of magazines and newspapers in one sweet and cozy place. There were like 5 different varieties of martial arts mags, and newspapers from Israel and Egypt - there were more things, I'm just a monomaniac at times.
The staff are sweet and wonderful people, and the store is right behind Peet's!
This is one of the best places on Earth. I am very much a 'support the indies, no more dead storefronts' in our Cities and towns, but it goes further than that: it's akin to why I still go to Amoeba and get cheap CDs and dollar records... the interactions, the knowledgeable worker being able to see what you like and lead you to something that you will also like- except for me it is 'what you will also love and can no longer live without.' Maybe it's cheaper to subscribe - though that will eventually kill the magazine itself, isn't that WEIRD!! The magazine loses money that way and I don't want to lose my favorite publications!
Really quick: BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE WORLD. I am dead serious. Rambling may now continue:
I've never been able to get into the 'download music' thing, I think it hasn't been brought to the next level yet, I can wait - and when I thought I was buying a 2005 issue of Dwell - it turned out to be a damn download! I tell you, the bells and whistles that the 'reader' for your computer has (a highlighter, click on underlined weblinks and go to that site: I can type a URL!) DO NOT in any way compare to the joy of having the magazine, keeping it forever - not simply until the next big computer crash - and the beauty of tactile tape-flagging and re-visits, as well as... oh, right - the store. (Also, the Dwell download "made" you sign away all privacy and agree to insane junk mail. Like, once you are into the transaction - seriously committed, you have to be like, yeah give it all away! *sulk.) Bleah!
I am coming in at just under 100 reviews of the store ISSUES, so there isn't much to add O but I will: selection is SO vast without filler, quality all the way. What they have that is not magazine or quarterly- are things that are FANTASTIC! The music is a small but handpicked / genius selection, if you desire every title comes with a verbally delivered description from the TALL dude (ok, Joe) so you will know if you want to buy it, excellent t-shirts, the used books are 'no filler' and the new books - I want to buy about 70% and talk to whoever buys the other 30% to get to know them better, nifty buttons for your lapel, your sleeve or bag -or even to sneak in the freezer in the homes of people you really like.
Issues: I love you!! My soul is making out with your vision. You have enriched my life, and you are exactly everything a periodical store needs to be as well as what an indie shop needs to be! I think you are Le Genius en plural and I LOVE YOU! Never again to buy a magazine from a grocery check out, Barnes & Ignoble or *gasp* ...Costcow. Everyone who works in that shop is so neato!! Trust:
Their sign says nice people ... and it's true.
Oooodles of magazines for every interest. Great music always playing. Super friendly people behind the counter. Fun artsy openings. Great location.
Just go. It will make you happy.
If you can read, how can you not love this place?
Great selection, friendly owners and staff.
Always a small interesting selection of books, and some neat jewelry.
Warning: Once you go in, you will want to buy something.
Not long ago, while green thumbing through Issues' gardening section of the racks, I overheard a pleasant transaction between the co-owners and two sweatshirted guys visiting from Santa Cruz. They had self-published magazines with them. After some loose but interested conversation about the cover, the printing, the photography and the publication's culture of readers, Noella and Joe gave them a home at the counter. The magazines, that is, not the guys! (No, I'd like to think that the little bundle of cash they received in exchange for their goods bought them a full tank of gas for the drive back home, plus dinner and probably breakfast the next morning at The Silver Spur, or perhaps Linda's Seabreeze Cafe.)
Issues is one of the most dynamic operations to open in Oakland in 2007 and it's run by an equally dynamic duo. I could fault them for not having everything (Glimmer Train) but I'd rather compliment them for carrying, oh, I don't know, 50, 75, 100 publications not featured on any other periodicals rack in the East Bay. I'd also like to compliment them for not hiding behind the counter, "buried" in their own product, but rather eagerly stepping out and pointing me toward a couple literary journals I hadn't heard of. No doubt they've done the same for many other patrons. I walked away with a purchased copy of one of Joe's recommendations last visit. As for Glimmer Train, they added it to their next order. Tell them what you aren't finding and they'll do their best to bring it in for you.
From The Journal of Life Sciences to The Journal of Irreproducible Results; from the quarterly mystery magazine, The Strand, to the bimonthly Highlander, for the Scottish American readership; from Herb Quarterly to Donna Hay Magazine -- and don't miss the newspaper rack, the several bins of records and the small but notable selection of books. Even that book you've been seeking on the Norwegian black metal scene is hiding in there.
I remember when a customer (that would be me) once got distracted by conversation, and put her wallet away, as if she'd paid, and the OWNER (that would be Joe) apologized, adding with minor self-deprecation, "Sorry, I'm not a very good businessman".
But you are, Joe...the best kind!
That publication that the Santa Cruz guys dropped off, by the way? Full of gorgeous, intimate, black and white photographs of motor mechanics at work. I love the arousal of new interest. Well, okay, I just love arousal.
Make a special trip for this store or shop here before your movie starts at The Piedmont Theater.
Gift certificates are available.
Cool-ass little shop around the corner from the posh Piedmont grocery! Drop by and peruse their HUGE magazine selection (including some back copies of out of print zines) and have a chat with the staff. They sell Erica Weiner jewelry as well as countless other interesting odds and ends, enough to keep a girlfriend busy while her boyfriend ooohs and aaahs over the cabinet of experimental CD's, and boxes of obscure records, lovingly acquired by the owner, an experimental/noise musician himself I believe.
I bought a Slingshot planner here, as well as several calendars as gifts for friends. This shop has a great feeling and when you walk in you know you just want it to be around forever.
i love this place!
the service is great, and they have EVERY magazine whenever i go in there that i want.
i love this place. i love the owners!!! Especially the super cute and sweet and sassy owner ladyyyyy! everything else about this place has been said, so that is all i have to add. why so awesome?!?!?!??!! i have a crush on you, Issues.
This place is a rare gem in the East Bay. I honestly have to leave my wallet in the car and just take in $20 because the selection of really interesting magazines is too much for me. They have EVERYTHING that you've ever heard of plus 20 new ones that kick the crap out of the stuff you're used to reading. Just plain awesome.
HEY what's your issue? Well, ISSUES is a brand new mixed media store located right off Piedmont Ave in Oakland.
It's a cozy, independently (locals! neighbors even!) owned shop that features a deep catalog of magazines and newspapers from all over the world, as well as a hand-picked selection of books, CDs, LPs, cassettes, art and objects with a focus on sound art, noise, outsider music, surrealism, psychedelia, and the darker side of the new age.
But hey, if you don't have a stomach for all that obscurophile weirdoness, ISSUES also carries Harpers, Time, Newsweek, celebrity gossip stuff (!!!) and daily newspapers (although they would prefer to sell you a copy of Dairy Goat Journal, Prehistoric Times, Fangoria, or Civil War Historian).
ALSO: They even invited me to their opening party on Friday (June 1st) from 5-9 pm, if you are into that sort of thing (aka a total hipster).
Issues is one of the best new businesses that has opened in my old hood.
Which is great- just great- since I don't live there anymore.
But it's probably for the better, because if I did I would probably spend half my paycheck there, stocking up on the latest issues of my favorite domestic and British home decor mags, zines and comics by local Oakland kids, vintage books and other goodies like melamine plates from Pop Ink.
'Long Live Issues', indeed!
Issues is TEN stars. not five.
I honestly don't know what I would do without Noella and Joe ordering my weirdo magazines for me. Arabian Horse Digest? Grafik? Thank god I can write off my purchases, because i usually put a minor dent in my wallet every time i go in.
trust me, they pretty much have every type of magazine. They also have local zines, books, crazy noise records, art, tshirts....And if you need recommendations, they are full of them:
"I need something not too literary, but maybe arty...and maybe with nature in it?
And it's REALLY fun if you go in not having a clue what you want. youll be in there for hours. Remember that cigar store that used to have magazines, the one by Park Grill? Remember how that dude would tell you to buy if you were caught reading? Issues is the opposite of that guy.
Please support them!!! None of us ever, ever want Issues to go away.
Issues is a beautiful, very locally-owned shop with an astonishing array of magazines and an incredibly curated selection of music and books. If you want to get your Star (or Woman Rifle Enthusiast, Newsweek, or XLR8R) magazine along with a completely unpretentious, smart, and real recommendation for something that will broaden your knowledge and immediately improve your quality of life, stop by this fantastic shop!
It's also located conveniently next to the Piedmont Grocery so that you can sneak parking if necessary, and is a tiny step out enough from the fray of Piedmont Avenue that it's easier to breathe when making your next considered record purchase. Best of all is the sweetness, wealth of knowledge, and respect you'll get with each purchase, instead of the regular oppressive hipster dismissal.
An amazing number of magazine titles. If ever you need a popular, obscure or rare magazine, this shop is the place. They also carry a number of international foreign language newspapers. Definitely one of Oakland's hidden gems.
Where else will you find the cover of Glamour magazine rubbing shoulders with the cover of Girls & Corpses? Nowhere, I'll bet.
Yep, you can get everything from the banal to the completely obscure right here. Not just magazines, either. There are plenty of other little distractions to keep you nosing around here for a good while. The shop itself is very cozy, too. An inviting combination of funky art and literature.
A great way to spend time on a rainy Sunday, which is exactly what I did.
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Bookstores
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Category: Music & DVD's
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