Help Read It & Eat Bookshop Find a New Home

6/13/2024

The Read It & Eat team is actively searching for a new location outside of the West Side Bazaar. The Bazaar has been riddled with problems from leadership and down and we find our store cannot thrive in this environment. So we're making the difficult choice to try and find a new location and save our business.

We've found a great new spot, but it will come with a rent increase, a new contract, and costs to move location and inventory. We'd appreciate it if you could help us on our journey.

We're using the last of our savings to pay for the initial deposit to hold our spot at the space that opens in September!

Here's what we would need help with:

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tl;dr I have my first shot at a semi-permanent bookstore space and need some funds to help us purchase initial inventory and hire help

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Original Ask

Hi, I'm Kim (she/her) and I founded The Read It & Eat Book Box in 2020 to bring culinary adventures to your home. Our quarterly book & food subscription boxes launched during the pandemic. Our boxes come bursting with culinary adventure and change each quarter. Each box contains: a great food-focused book to curl up with, delicious food treats (from small businesses, never Amazon), and a donation to fight hunger in Buffalo, NY.

Since then, we've been featured in The New York Post , Book Riot , and Woman's Day magazine. In 2022 we supported 14 unique non-profits to fight hunger in Buffalo, NY. We launched The Read It & Eat Book Fair in Market in April 2022 with 1100 book lovers in attendance. Most recently, our Blind Date with a Book Program (with snacks & tea!) launched on Uncommon Goods . We are the first book subscription box to launch on Uncommon Goods. This year I was able to hire part-time help for the first time and so far in 2023, we have attended twelve different pop-up markets in Buffalo.

We have just turned 3 years old this August and it's time to ask for your help. We have secured a spot to open our culinary bookstore! All the things you love about the Read It & Eat Box (read, eating, and fighting hunger) is coming to a brick and mortar location. The Read It & Eat Bookshop finds its home inside the West Side Bazaar opening on Niagara Street on October 18th. It's important to note that we will still be donating to fight hunger each month with our store's sales (we're working out the details now). While we have secured our deposit, we have been incredibly creative in marketing, bootstrapping, and finding new ways to keep the business, all while still working a full-time role (gotta pay the bills somehow).

Now it's time to buy furniture and most importantly, inventory! Help us become even more independent and sustainable by contributing to our GoFundMe!

What we'll use the funding for ($5,000)

Stretch Goals ($10,000)

It's been an uphill battle the past three years to grow this business while working full-time and entirely self-funded. 2023 we took on a small business loan to revamp our website, launch our book fair, and launch on Uncommon Goods. We have big plans for this bookstore but the opportunity came a quicker than the funds have. Asking for help is hard, but here we are. A good friend has reminded me that chasing dreams is hard but worth it.

To sweeten the deal, if you donate, make sure you leave a comment to let us know what kind of books you like to read. I'll reply with a food book / culinary adventure book recommendation!