In the final days before its metaphorical ribbon is cut, the turquoise door to Local Economy is wide open.
For weeks now, the new community space at 6028 College Ave. in Oakland, which officially opens tomorrow, has been a bustling hub for small business owners and residents of the Rockridge neighborhood. They’ve been helping schlep boxes and furniture, packing the events calendar with zine-making workshops and author readings, and stocking the floor-to-ceiling shelves with locally-made goods. (One handy neighbor even built the shelves themselves.)
It’s just as married co-owners Sarah Rich and Alexis Madrigal intended. That community spirit is the living realization of the Local Economy ethos, an “antidote to [the] chaos and isolation” plaguing our internet-addled culture, a good vibe so rarefied that hundreds of people are queuing on the waitlist for membership.
“Sarah and I are overwhelmed by the interest in building community in the Bay right now, and we love that we’re a conduit for it,” Madrigal, an author and co-host of KQED’s popular public affairs show Forum, told Gazetteer SF.
Rich and Madrigal, both writers and prominent figures in the Bay Area arts and media scenes, announced the project in July, an “open door club” funded by monthly membership fees, which range from $20 to $100.
Interest in the club exploded right away. By early September, 250 people had already signed up for membership, prompting the couple to announce on Instagram that they would pause taking new members until they officially opened and could assess how many people fit comfortably in the space. Still, would-be patrons kept knocking on their digital door: Madrigal said there are more than 300 names on Local Economy’s waitlist. Luckily for those people, public accessibility is built into the space’s business model.
“The key for us has been in distinction to something like The Battery, whose pitch is that they’re an exclusive club,” Madrigal said. “We’re an inclusive club. It’s kind of analogous to public media, where you’re paying for this thing to exist for everyone.”
Rich and Madrigal have lived in the Rockridge area for 14 years. The general idea was to keep membership hyperlocal, but word spread quickly, even enticing potential new members from across the Bay.
“I actually looked into getting a membership, even though I live out in San Francisco. But then I saw how many people were on the waitlist, and I figured I’d give the locals first priority instead.” giggled Cynthia Zhou, a part-time sales associate at Planterday, a plant shop two doors down that supplied Local Economy with some of the houseplants nestled on its shelves. “It seems like an awesome place, very community-oriented.”
True to its name, Local Economy trades on goods and services provided by its neighbors. Zhou said her boss, Matt Day, is a “huge fan of Alexis” and was happy to provide some greenery from his shop. The pop up microroastery Painted Leopard, which operates out of a West Oakland warehouse across the street from a small studio Madrigal used to rent, is set to have a coffee cart in the storefront. East Bay Booksellers, which is located next door to Local Economy, will also be a frequent collaborator.
Brad Johnson, the owner of East Bay Booksellers, said it was “all hands on deck” among the proprietors down College Ave. to get Local Economy off the ground.
“[Rich and Madrigal] are very creative and forward-thinking. They’re building something, but they’re doing it at a very human scale. No one’s trying to make it a corporate giant,” said Johnson. “All of us, we all have small staffs, so we can pay people well and treat them right. We’re all trying to appropriately size our operations in a way that’s responsible.”
Johnson said that all the shopkeepers in Local Economy’s orbit share a deep respect for the people they serve: "We're all trying to be good stewards of the community.” The challenge for the new business, he said, will be balancing the original vision with the reality that streams through the doors once a shop officially opens, “to learn and adjust based on what the community brings.”
“They have no idea what to expect,” said Johnson. “It’s an amazing experiment.”
