Madison Street Books - help us sustain year 2.

Of  all the things I imagined for Madison Street Books when we opened last year, I never imagined creating a Go Fund Me.  This weekend marks our 1 year anniversary.  We opened on March 14, 2020, and closed on March 16, 2020, per the state and city's mandates due to COVID-19.  The store went dark and those were dark days.  We had no customer base and no ability to create one.  Due to being open for less than a year we could not apply for PPP or any of the other government assistance programs.

Thanks to some thoughtful and well placed news articles in the local news media, the word got out.  "An independent bookstore opened in the West Loop and had to close two days later!"  Online orders started trickling in.  People in the neighborhood started telling their families and friends.  We received orders from California, Texas and New York, and everyplace in between.   We had a guardian angel who sent a monthly check.  The support was amazing and humbling.

When we were finally able to open again it was the end of June.   From that time we have had capacity limits, and had patrons wearing single use gloves.  We have closed on multiple occasions to keep our staff and community safe.  In spite of all of that, booklovers managed to find their way to Madison Street Books, for which we are incredibly grateful.

Unfortunately, as we review 2020 and budget for  2021, we know that we will not be able to stay open without additional assistance.   Were it not for COVID -19, a Go Fund Me would not be part of our reality.   We believe in Madison Street Books as a business and we believe in the West Loop as a community.  If you believe the same, please take a moment and donate to our Go Fund Me.