Red Room Where the Writers Are

101-year-old Oakland newsstand to close

In another sign that the printed word may be going the way of polar ice caps, the renowned 101-year-old De Lauer's newsstand on Broadway in Oakland is going out of business.

"We have to close," said Charles De Lauer, the 91-year-old proprietor whose father started the enterprise selling papers from small wagons in 1907. "Things just got too hard."

The 24-hour-a-day store that once sold newspapers and magazines from around the world will shut down at 6 a.m. Thursday, store manager Fasil Lemme said Tuesday.

"This is a business that time is passing by because everybody has a computer," said De Lauer's accountant Joe Churchward. "Your news is at the click of a button."

De Lauer's is located between 13th and 14th streets, in the heart of downtown near City Hall and just a few doors around the corner from the landmark Tribune Tower, abandoned by its namesake newspaper last year."

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Well yes, I've been yelled at for hanging around too long reading and not buying anything, but I got a little sad last time I was in DeLauer's and I saw the thickest part of their collection was of cigarillos, not anything printed. Ironically, I read this story from the Chronicle which I purchased at a newsstand, located in the Rockridge BART station. At least we will have these for a while (I hope), because I can't quite fold my computer screen up the way I would the Datebook to do the crossword on the back.