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Death of a Berkeley Deli (and More)

By Ted Friedman
Monday December 12, 2011 - 05:46:00 PM
Dazed shoppers Friday at Telegraph Andronicos, the day before it closed. One of last of aisles with merchandise.
Ted Friedman
Dazed shoppers Friday at Telegraph Andronicos, the day before it closed. One of last of aisles with merchandise.
Anyone here? Andronicos on Telegraph Friday. The store closed Saturday.
Ted Friedman
Anyone here? Andronicos on Telegraph Friday. The store closed Saturday.
What's left of liquor department at Andronicos, Friday.
Ted Friedman
What's left of liquor department at Andronicos, Friday.
Friday in Andronicos produce department. Along with the meat department, produce closed two weeks ago.
Ted Friedman
Friday in Andronicos produce department. Along with the meat department, produce closed two weeks ago.

Telegraph Andronicos died Saturday, or was it last Saturday? Or was it last decade?

The Teley deli had been gasping for breath for years. 

Built in '57-'58 as sibling to the1929 Solano Andronicos Park and Shop, an early drive-to California supermarket, Teley Andronicos was either loved or hated by its customers, some of whom treasured its convenient lower Telegraph location, and felt close to the staff. 

I liked the butchers, the liquor department manager, some of the other managers, and not a few of the checkers. Even disagreeable checkers were amusing, especially the PhD. candidate who lashed out at me for mispronouncing, he said, Nietzsche. To this day, I avoid naming the philosopher, fearing sudden pain. 

My Planet piece, "A Chicken-Shit Tale of Super-Market Marketing," Tues., July 12, 2011, originated at the Teley Andros meat department. And one of my favorite butchers gets credit for the chicken-shit joke about chicken breasts. 

The meat department closed so soon after the store's closure was announced, I didn't have a chance to say goodbye. I hope my jocular friend is transferred to San Anselmo, as were two Andronicos butchers, who lived in my building ten years ago. 

The now moribund South-side deli, liquor store, butcher-shop, social destination, and "Happening," will be sorely missed, but mourner's grief may be complicated by ill-feelings. 

Ill-feelings stem from callous Andros business practices, including seemingly unjustified high prices for just about everything. You could spend up to $3.99 a pound for green beans, or celery. A thoughtless and constant drenching of the priced-like-gold produce left much of it limp. 

The bright idea to sell brackish meats, about to exceed sale-date, or often expired, as "aged meat," was finally dropped, after a long run. 

In fact, many of the store products, including dairy items, were often left on shelves even though their sale-dates were expired. 

Astute shoppers had to check their receipts, because, according to checkers, the system for inputting correct prices, especially sale items, did not work. Prices on product racks, bins, and trays were confusing. The confusions always seemed to favor the store. 

Some longtime neighborhood customers fumed over the store policy of awarding ten percent discounts to students and faculty, one day a week, with no similar discounts to low income neighborhood customers. The store refused to address this grievance to the end. 

But discounts flooded Andros Teley at its demise, and on Friday customers showed up for discounts on aspirin, candy bars, and wine and liquor no one wanted. In every department, the good stuff was long gone. 

The meat and produce departments had been closed from the first death announcement. The Deli, a popular venue (founded 1984), had twenty-five percent discounts, but also closed in the final days. 

As accompanying photos of the next-last day show, the final scene was grim. 

Two Berkeley Andros survive—the original store on Solano, and the 20 year-old converted co-op on Shattuck at Cedar. Andros on University closed in October. 

For the last several years, the Teley Andros could no longer disguise its ill-health, as unpaid distributors stopped delivering some products, and customers, found many shelves empty. Then, mysteriously the shelves would fill, but not always with the same products. 

When the bankrupt Andronicos chain (includes San Francisco and San Anselmo) was sold last August, employees at the Teley store were told that the sale would save Andros, Teley Bill Andronico, grandson of the founder, and CEO since1988 would be running the business for the new owners. 

While wary, some staffers, and customers were relieved by the prospects of a solvent ownership. Andros, Teley was now stocked, if not with the same products it had carried. Some customers said the soda section lacked their favorite colas. 

But when staffers were notified of their terminations (others were promised jobs within the chain), they complained they had been lied to, and that the company planned to sell off the store all along. 

A statement from Bill Andronico, if read between the lines, supports employees’ suspicions: 

"The closing of the Telegraph Avenue store became necessary because the property would have been too difficult to bring up to the standards that our customers expect and deserve." 

Did the new Teley store owners find the store too costly to maintain? Employees said they believed that the company had planned to sell off the store from the start. Several employees said Andronicos has sold the building to CVS, a drug-store superstore, which sells junk food and booze. 

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Ted Friedman, often reporting on the Southside, had the sort of 40 year love-hate relationship to his Teley Deli he describes in his piece.