Dear Members of our Columbus Ave Book Culture store, and every other supporter too.
Update:
Book Culture on Columbus
The Columbus Ave Book Culture store will not reopen. Though we were hoping to enter into an agreement which would allow the store to quickly reopen under new management, those negotiations have ceased and no such deal is in place.
This is the saddest and most destructive outcome we had imagined. The community surrounding our stores provided a lifeline in lending to us these past 6 months. That lifeline now sits, wasted, behind the locked doors. 12 employees who absolutely lived paycheck to paycheck are now out of work.
It is certainly the case that Book Culture on Columbus could have survived and paid its debts and continued to make its contributions to the neighborhood and to the city. There are thousands of stories around the country like this where a small business is unnecessarily closed and the net loss runs exponentially through its community. It is too often the case that a worthwhile, viable and sustainable business closes for lack of access to investment at the right time. That critical investment can produce gains that also run exponentially through a community.
We will continue to try to raise money to open again in the area.
The core goals, values and vision of Book Culture are intact. Our talent, creativity and spirit are intact. Our capacity to work hard is greater than ever. Our mission for creating spaces that are beautiful and serve our community remains. The core objective is still to create and sustain a business that can be profitable and serve its community wholistically. We will continue to seek investment and landlords that want what a Book Culture store is.
We will continue to update you all.
Chris Doeblin
