Berkeley shop Annapurna will close permanently after over half a century in business by the end of the year.

Owner Al Geyer isn’t sure of the exact closing date, as he’s still figuring out what will become of his store. For now, everything is priced at 50% off. The impending closure was first reported by Berkeleyside.

Geyer, 78, said he has been looking to retire and sell his store for the past year and found a number of interested buyers. He finally secured an agreement with one, but then says he found out that his landlord — the same landlord he’s had for all 51 years — was selling the building and the new owner wouldn’t allow a shop that sold cannabis paraphernalia to continue operating. The deal fell apart, Geyer said, and now he’s in a sort of limbo as he figures out when he’ll have to vacate the property.

Requests for comment from the building owners weren’t returned to SFGATE as of publication time.

“There’s a big movement against cannabis and head shops and against, honestly, anything counterculture,” Geyer said. “It has to do with a diminishing attitude towards anything alternative, anything that isn’t oriented particularly towards students because they live in this area.”

The iconic store on Telegraph Avenue is more than just a head shop; it was a pioneer of the counterculture movement stretching back to the 1960s. Geyer opened his first store, Kathmandu, in Berkeley in 1969, selling cannabis paraphernalia, Nepalese lost-wax bronzes, incense and  books. He ran both stores for years, while also operating an online wholesale business that sold cannabis paraphernalia throughout the U.S. 

Annapurna opened in 1972 and it always sold more than just cannabis supplies. Visitors could stock up on incense, candles, stickers, statues and gifts, ranging from cheeky to raunchy. Geyer said the store was successful over the years and even recovered relatively well after the pandemic began to wane. “The idea was to try to inspire, to find something that somebody laughs at, chuckles at or deeply is moved by or just has them feeling better,” Geyer said. 

It was recent high inflation he attributes to the store’s dip in sales in the past year, saying people no longer were able to spend money on discretionary items. It even forced him to eliminate all his employees. He’s been working 400 days straight, he said, and plans to continue doing so until the store closes up for good. 

Geyer said he’s still open to selling the business concept, even if it can’t include the shop itself. He’s hoping that given its history in the area, maybe someone would open the shop somewhere else in Berkeley and acquire the brand name. 

As the store disappears, so will Geyer’s plans for retirement, he said. He hoped to gain a modest profit from the sale, which could help him with health care costs as he ages. “I wasn’t planning on a posh retirement, but as it goes now, I may be just getting on a plane,” he said, explaining it may make more financial sense to retire overseas. “But in the meantime, I’m selling everything in here.”

He said he’ll also be selling new memorabilia online soon, and he’s ordering additional inventory for the store now.

Geyer is looking forward to retirement, he said, but he’s not done with business entirely. He said he’s always dreamed of having his own edible or CBD brand. 

In just the few days since news of the closure spread, Geyer said many people have come in to visit the shop, telling him stories about how much it has meant to the community over the years. “I have generations of customers. I have people coming in here with their grandparents,” he said. “I just thought I was going to be free. There are only so many lives Ican give to Telegraph.”