Out of the ashes: Popular Oakland bookstore reopens after devastating fire

After a devastating fire destroyed East Bay Booksellers in July, it was the pandemic-era all over again for owner Brad Johnson. He set up shop in a cramped break room offered by a fellow bookseller and got to work, once again, boxing up online orders. But he alway knew the pivot to digital would be temporary.

“I think what we do—if we do anything special that makes people want to support us—has nothing to do with our digital presence. It’s purely physical,” Johnson said. There’s not much point to running a bookstore...