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Telegraph’s Street Vendors Weather Economic Storm, But With Caution

13 October 2008 818 views No Comment

By Casey Miner The street vendors of upper Telegraph Avenue are fixtures of Berkeley life; their colorful stands lend the few blocks near campus some of its legendary character. But as anxious consumers cut discretionary spending, those stands see fewer and fewer patrons.

“They can’t afford to buy,” said Bill Tumath, 62, who sells “cosmic spirals” – metal or copper hanging spirals that spin around brightly colored spheres – from a table near Bancroft Way. “They have the money, but they have other priorities.”

Last week was the worst yet for the US stock market, as values plunged lower than they had since the middle of the Great Depression in 1933. Many banks stopped issuing credit, and people with market-based retirement accounts saw their savings plummet. Nationally, consumer spending levels also remained low.

Around 11 on Monday morning last week, Telegraph’s sidewalks were just coming to life, as art, clothing and jewelry vendors set up their tables and arranged their wares.

Many vendors said the country’s economic crisis has had a noticeable effect on their business.

“Most art is a potential landfill,” said Tumath, who sells his art pieces for anywhere from $25-$100. “It’s not necessary.”

Tumath said the bad economy had recently forced him to apply early for Social Security. The monthly federal check, he said, now keeps him afloat.
“I’m losing business,” he said. “This affects everybody.”

Down the block, a jewelry vendor said that lately she’s seen far fewer vendors selling on Telegraph. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said she has worked in the area since 1974.

“A lot of vendors are not coming out here,” she said. “I probably wouldn’t even be here today, but I have to pay my bills.”

Street selling is an uncertain business by nature, said many of the vendors. The amount of business they do varies dramatically from week to week, so a sense of economic instability is nothing new.

But even factoring in the unpredictability of the job, they said, they can’t ignore the recent turn for the worse.

Lee Six, 61, says she has sold handcrafted jewelry on Telegraph since 1968.

“I’ve never seen the economy this bad,” she said. “People are scared. They’re still buying, but they’re cautious.”

Her best-selling item right now, she said, is what she calls “affirmation” jewelry – pendants like peace signs that depict positive ideas or thoughts.

Despite the drop in business, several vendors said that selling small, relatively inexpensive items can be an advantage in an economy where bigger luxuries, like a home, are harder to come by.

“It’s a different kind of market,” said a vendor, who identified himself as Twig. Twig said he has worked on Telegraph for 12 years, and has not noticed much of a change in his own business in hemp jewelry.

“People will always buy little trinkets to make themselves feel good. They buy a beer, a bracelet,” he said. “It’s not like buying a car.”