A True Love of Wine HELP us stay open

My name is Kristin Singleton-Ferrari. I was born and raised in Bed-Stuy and East Flatbush Brooklyn and moved to Milan Italy at 22 years old. I began my "love of wine" with my ex partner and managed one of the first American restaurants in Italy. I returned to NY after 15 years and in 2001 and began looking for restaurant work. I was spared from 911 by cancelling an appt at The World Trade Center Windows on the World interview. I stayed and worked in a few NY restaurants and learned much about wine and spirits here in NY. I was also an innkeeper for 2 years at the re known Akwaaba B&B in Washington DC.

In 2011 I became a NYC Tour Guide and began conducting tours all over the US and Canada.

I conducted many educational tours guiding students to Washington DC and took a leadership program to London and Paris. It was rewarding until March 2020 when the pandemic hit.

In January my estranged husband and I started negotiating for the purchase of Olivino Bed Stuy, in March the pandemic was REAL and all my tours were canceled. We were granted a license and opened A True Love of Wine and Spirits in August of 2020.

ATLOW specializes in helping our customers pai wines and food at home, celebrate events and we educate on old and new products with weekly in store wine tastings. We are quite active in the community. We support many locally made brands like and even more Black owned brands from companies like wine maker Andre Mack, Brown Estates and many others. We offer treats to our furry friends and keep a bowl outside with fresh water. Finally we also support the local CSA from World's Your Oyster supplying oyster and seafood deliveries to neighbors who order directly.

I have since been through it all. My partner returned to Italy and I was left to handle a retail business I'm not familiar with on my own. Price increases, rent and expenses are through the roof for everyone and I now had staff to pay. In final, the store suffered closure for a week due to NY tax dept issues and some negligence from my tax preparer. We are now faced with renewing our license independently so I may continue as A True Love of Wine and Spirits on my own.

We also seek to begin wine education in the "hood" supporting local restaurants and the shop. Table to Wine Store would allow people to pair foods with seasonal wines we have. We also continue to conduct tastings in store. We also want to help organize actual trips to Italy for locals to enjoy and educate themselves on wine food and Italian culture.

All in all we thank you ALL who have supported us the past 3 years and especially coming in this past month! Many have inquired if we are closing. The answer is a resounding NO! But we do require funding to remain a part of the community. Please help with whatever you can.