Longtime newsstand owner Charles De Lauer dies
Charles De Lauer, who sold
newspapers, cigars, racing forms and other essentials for 74 years at
his landmark Oakland newsstand, died Thursday, just a month after a
last-minute sale to an employee saved the store from extinction. Mr. De Lauer, who until February worked at De Lauer's Super
Newsstand seven days a week, died of complications of leukemia and
lymphoma at Summit Medical Center in Oakland. He was 91. "He loved that store. It's what kept him going," said his
granddaughter, Sharon De Lauer Treter of San Ramon. "He felt a
responsibility to the city of Oakland to keep it running, to provide
newspapers and magazines that no one else had. He took great pride in
that." Because of poor sales and his declining health, Mr. De Lauer sold
the 101-year-old store in July to his manager, Fasil Lemma, and Lemma's
business partner. The new owners have said they intend to carry on De
Lauer's traditions of offering a wide array of out-of-town newspapers
and obscure specialty magazines and staying open 24 hours. "I will never forget Charlie," said Lemma, who started at De Lauer's
three years ago, after emigrating from Ethiopia. "He was like a father
to me. I learned so much from him and his family. He talked to me about
the business, but also about life." Mr. De Lauer was born and raised in West Oakland, taking over his
family's newsstand when his father died in 1934. Mr. De Lauer sold
newspapers, magazines and sundries from a wagon near downtown,
eventually expanding the business to include about 40 wagons and
newsstands around the Bay Area. The only time he left the business was during World War II, when he served in Europe with an Army artillery unit. In the early 1960s, Mr. De Lauer consolidated the business to its
present location at 13th Street and Broadway, with its illuminated
marquis and postmodern globe logo. Celebrities, tourists seeking their
hometown papers, office workers, professional athletes, night owls and
the homeless could all be found perusing the racks. "He never kicked anyone out for loitering or lingering," Treter
said. "He'd invite you to come in, hang out, read the paper, talk about
sports, stay as long as you wanted as long as you didn't steal
anything."
