Broad Leaf Books Brick & Mortar
Donation protected
Broad Leaf Books is officially over a year old. We've done street fairs, holiday boutiques, and church rummage sales. We've loved every single one-- meeting people, talking to fellow vendors, and spending our days immersed in books. Our 20,000+ inventory is outgrowing our basement, however, and our backs are not getting any younger. We have always wanted a brick and mortar place, with the plan that we would open one when we retire in a few years (Ok, when Alex retires in a few years!), but our books are crying out for new homes with people who will read them.
UPDATE: We've got a line on a fanastic small shop on the main street in our town. $600/month includes utilities. Please help us open the door!
We're lucky to have summers off, and so for the next few years we think we can run a bookstore full time in the summer and part time during the winter. We only have about half the seed money that we'd need to get into a place, build the rest of the shelving needed, get signage, and advertise, though.
What we need money for (we do already have some of it, but we need more to make it work until it can be self-supporting):
-Deposit and rent for the few unopened months until the space is retail bookstore ready
-paper bags
-more bookmark business cards
-hardware and boards for shelving (Alex is handy and can build them after we get materials)
-signs
-advertising
-rent until it's self-supporting
- a million little things that will probably come up...
MORE: We're hoping to provide a place where our books can be adopted, but also where the community can come together. One of my favorite places as a young mother was a coffee shop a few blocks away that had an area for children to play while moms and dads home with their kids got to have adult conversation and coffee. There isn't really a place like that in Pine Bush or locally, and I think a well-stocked kids' area plus a few couches and a Keurig, and suddenly parents can relax a bit more during the day. We'd love to host book clubs, knitting clubs, readings, moth-type storytelling times, and family craft times. We have no problem being a place where teens (and others) can come play board and card games. One idea that Amanda is especially fond of is having particular shelves to rent out to local craftspeople, sort of like those antique stores with stalls, but smaller. You pay $25 or so a month, fill up your shelf with scarves, hats, soaps, bags, or other homemade goodies, and we'll be your marketplace. Why wait until the street fairs to find or sell local goods?
Books and people should be together, and we want to be the place that happens.
I've attached a few pictures of our "mobile" stalls that we've had until now. To be able to do this now would mean making our dreams real. Thank you for considering helping us-- and our books-- find a home!
If the bookstore cannot happen because of low funding or no possible locations, we will send all monies donated through this account to local libraries. We will NOT keep the donated money that is not used for the store for our personal use.
UPDATE: We've got a line on a fanastic small shop on the main street in our town. $600/month includes utilities. Please help us open the door!
We're lucky to have summers off, and so for the next few years we think we can run a bookstore full time in the summer and part time during the winter. We only have about half the seed money that we'd need to get into a place, build the rest of the shelving needed, get signage, and advertise, though.
What we need money for (we do already have some of it, but we need more to make it work until it can be self-supporting):
-Deposit and rent for the few unopened months until the space is retail bookstore ready
-paper bags
-more bookmark business cards
-hardware and boards for shelving (Alex is handy and can build them after we get materials)
-signs
-advertising
-rent until it's self-supporting
- a million little things that will probably come up...
MORE: We're hoping to provide a place where our books can be adopted, but also where the community can come together. One of my favorite places as a young mother was a coffee shop a few blocks away that had an area for children to play while moms and dads home with their kids got to have adult conversation and coffee. There isn't really a place like that in Pine Bush or locally, and I think a well-stocked kids' area plus a few couches and a Keurig, and suddenly parents can relax a bit more during the day. We'd love to host book clubs, knitting clubs, readings, moth-type storytelling times, and family craft times. We have no problem being a place where teens (and others) can come play board and card games. One idea that Amanda is especially fond of is having particular shelves to rent out to local craftspeople, sort of like those antique stores with stalls, but smaller. You pay $25 or so a month, fill up your shelf with scarves, hats, soaps, bags, or other homemade goodies, and we'll be your marketplace. Why wait until the street fairs to find or sell local goods?
Books and people should be together, and we want to be the place that happens.
I've attached a few pictures of our "mobile" stalls that we've had until now. To be able to do this now would mean making our dreams real. Thank you for considering helping us-- and our books-- find a home!
If the bookstore cannot happen because of low funding or no possible locations, we will send all monies donated through this account to local libraries. We will NOT keep the donated money that is not used for the store for our personal use.
Organizer
Amanda Crowell
Organizer
Pine Bush, NY
