Animal Sanctuary Takes Over Vegan Store

Berkeley, CA’s popular vegan store, Republic of V, is now owned by Animal Place—with all proceeds directly supporting its two Northern California farm animal sanctuaries. Joe Haptas and Noelle Callahan opened Republic of V in February 2014, and while it was successful, they felt that a farm animal sanctuary should own the all-vegan store. So they offered Animal Place Executive Director Kim Sturla the option of taking it over. Sturla is thrilled about the 1,300-square-foot store’s potential for supporting the sanctuary’s mission and Bay Area animal activism. “Selling fresh nut cheeses, cruelty-free cosmetics, and other vegan specialty items supports the vegan lifestyle,” she told VegNews. “But we’ll also promote animal activism by hosting activist meetings, book signings, and film screenings, as well as training classes for people who want to volunteer at the store or our sanctuaries.” Republic of V officially opened under Animal Place management today, but a grand opening party is tentatively scheduled for June 13.