Whole Earth Access (1969–1998) started as acounterculturalretail store inBerkeley, California. In the early 1990s, Whole Earth Access had seven stores in Northern California. After filing for bankruptcy in 1996, all stores closed in 1998.

TheWhole Earth Catalog was preceded by the "Whole Earth Truck Store", a 1963 Dodge truck. In 1968, the "Truck Store" finally settled into its permanent location inMenlo Park, California.^[1]

In 1969, a store that was inspired by (but not financially connected with) theWhole Earth Catalog, called Whole Earth Access opened inBerkeley. The store had the Leopold's RecordsTeletype Model 33 ASR which connected to theCommunity Memory ProjectSDS 940mainframe computer.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

In 1978, two brothers, Larry and Gene Farb bought the Berkeley store on Shattuck avenue.^[9] The first store, located in an industrial area of Berkeley, sold various brand names sought after by young affluents at a discounted price. Salespersons were technology-savvy and knowledgeable of their products. Gene Farb managed electronics and photographic merchandise, Larry Farb^[10] managed hardware and appliances, Laura Katz (Larry's wife) ran the housewares and clothing departments, and Toni Garrett (Gene's wife) handled book sales and mail order.^[11] The store also built some of the computers it was selling,^[12]The second store opened inMarin County in 1982, and the third inSan Francisco in 1985.^[11]

According to a 1985 issue of the store'sWhole Earth Access Mail Order Catalog, (named after, but not connected to theWhole Earth Catalog which it also sold):

Our Berkeley store opened in 1969, inspired by but independent of theWhole Earth Catalog. It began by carrying books, a few woodstoves, a few power tools, and back-to-the-land equipment. Access to a wide variety of products was available at very low prices through special ordering from distributors' catalogs. Gradually the store began stocking the items most commonly ordered, and we now carry a wide range of top-quality products for basic living, still at very low prices. Our newest section is electronics and communications, which includes cameras, video, audio, and computers.^[10]

Larry Farb commented in 1986 to theLos Angeles Times that, "we've grown up with our customers [...] the person who bought wood stoves in the 1970s is buying cappuccino makers today."^[11]

In the early 1990s, the company opened four more stores in Northern California, contracting debts to finance the expansion. In 1992, its sales peaked atUS$180 million.^[9]

In 1995, theSan Jose andConcord stores were closed.^[13] In 1996, Basic Living Products, the parent company of Whole Earth Access, closed theFoster City andSacramento stores, and filed for bankruptcy protection.^{[14][9][15][16]}

In November 1998, the three first and last stores of Whole Earth Access (Berkeley, San Rafael, and San Francisco) went out of business.^[17] Co-founder Gene Farb died three years later, in 2001.^[12]

• 1992 Commercial: Whole Earth Access "Apple Macintosh IIsi"

• Companies based in Berkeley, California
• Retail companies established in 1969
• 1969 establishments in California
• Mail-order retailers
• Defunct retail companies of the United States
• History of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Retail companies disestablished in 1998
• Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Retail companies based in California

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