Believe me, I love a good bookstore. How many of them ever clear a million dollars, though? Even the big corporations who used to be in that game have mostly folded since Amazon. A ‘queer, feminist, anarchist’ bookstore is intentionally targeted at fringe portions of society even in Asheville. Admittedly the fringe is somewhat larger there than elsewhere; but the population is smaller than major markets like Atlanta or Charlotte, which evens things out a bit.
Somebody ponied up the money in the form of a loan from an NGO, which might have generous terms if the NGO supports their social goals. Still, the business case for this has to be slim, doesn’t it?
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There's one in Madison that has managed to last for years. I went in there once--their offerings didn't entice, and I wasn't impressed with the quantity on offer either. I'd not thought of what their business model was--that's a good point. Possibly they have revenue streams unrelated to books--rentals, fundraising, laundering...
The article is behind a pay wall but assuming I've found the right bookstore, they post their financial info - although only up through 2021. Their net income in 2021 was a little over $24,000.
https://firestorm.coop/transparency.html
I'll be interested to see their 2021 "Summary text" if they ever post it. And I'd think the documents for 2022 should be available by now.
2021 was a bad year for in-person stores, especially in places like Asheville that had COVID restrictions over and above what the state/Feds required. (Also, probably, for stores whose clientele are chiefly drawn from the part of society most likely to be personally convinced of the peril.) I wouldn’t take that year’s numbers as definitive.
Still, if after the sale of a $20 book they make $5 profit, they need to move 200,000 books to repay that loan — if the interest rate is zero percent! If they sell a thousand books a month (could they possibly be moving that many given their limited audience?) and pay every penny of profit to the loan, it still takes over sixteen years to repay. Add in even a relatively low interest rate and you might never get there.
I guess the loaning company stands to inherit a freshly renovated shop in trendy West Asheville, so maybe they feel like there isn’t much risk. It’ll make a nice brewpub.
The article, or one very like it, also is available via Yahoo News: https://news.yahoo.com/west-ashevilles-queer-anarchist-feminist-091209806.html
It does seem to have a limited selection, and one not interesting to this poor, dumb Texas white supremacist patriarch.
Eric Hines
James suggestion of ‘laundering’ was doubtless tongue-in-cheek and not in any way libelous, but one does sometimes wonder about stores that large sums pass through but whose business model seems unsupported by reality.
My strongest memory of West Asheville was that I could not get a waffle there for breakfast, but every place seemed to have avocado toast. I eventually found a place with whole wheat pancakes, assured by the waitress who was trying to be sympathetic that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a regular pancake. I most certainly could. It was like a full sponge.
As I read deeper into the article, they plan to donate the land to the a “land trust.” So it’s not even an investment that will produce equity; if they ever pay back the extravagant loan, they intend to give the bookshop away.
Also noteworthy: one of the co-owners is named “Libertie Valance.”
I don't spend a lot of time in Asheville, let alone West Asheville, AVI; but I do know some good restaurants. If you ever get back down, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction. I'll see if I can find one with waffles (besides, of course, the infamous Waffle House).
So if you track down their primary funding it's coming from one of these new communist groups that works within the capitalist system and trains groups in how to work the system for funds.
The people there (see "Our Team" and "Our Board..." under the drop down "About Seed Commons") seem to have extensive foreign experience, with sojourns in places like Argentina and Nicaragua. I'd wonder if Chi com money isn't backing them, as nothing they do seems to have much capacity to make money. I wonder if they don't specialize in teaching people how to fabricate corporations that can get loans, spend them, and then simply default with no harm to them personally. Modern version of the used car dealer that changes name and location every couple of years.
IF we had a serious government, places like this would be investigated quite closely, but I'm sure they're absolute hands off at the agencies.
Communists always said the capitalist would sell them the rope...
Nothing wrong with the "Awful Waffle" or the equally infamous Cracker Barrel restaurants. One thing you get with these eateries is no matter which one you go to, whether it's in S. Florida or Pennsylvania, the food is pretty consistent. They were my "go tos" when I traveled around the country for work.
If you go at breakfast hours, Mike, that's more or less true; certainly it's true for Cracker Barrel. Waffle Houses do sometimes have colorful character by night.
The waffles are ok, though. I think their standout meal is the hashbrowns-all-the-way, i.e., with everything including chili on one side and gravy on the other. I wouldn't eat such a thing unless I had some major physical activity scheduled that day, but on such a day, it's close to perfect.
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