Community Raises Over $100,000 To Keep Small Bookstore Open

• Many businesses have been affected by the pandemic and have faced closure temporarily and permanently.
• One small bookstore in Massachusetts has faced the same problem, but thankfully, the community never let it close down.
• They have collected more than $100,000 in the bookstore’s GoFundMe page and kept the business open.

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Many businesses and establishments, small and big, have closed down across the United States. Whether for good or temporarily, the novel coronavirus has certainly affected them and their workers in many ways. 

One small bookstore in a small town in the Berkshires, Massachusetts was also facing possible closure due to the pandemic. When bills piled up, and many people stopped coming, bankruptcy was just around the corner. 

Thankfully, the community didn’t let that happen and rallied behind The Bookstore to keep it surviving. They collected funds for the small store and only after a few weeks, have raised over $100,000 which is more than enough to keep the business open.

“The wolf is no longer at the door (though he is still in the woods),” Matthew Tannenbaum, owner of The Bookstore’s said in thanks to his GoFundMe donors. “We can see the future.”

Matthew, 47-year-old, has run the business since 1976 after he acquired the store on April Fool’s Day, according to The Boston Globe. He has since sold countless copies of numerous books ever created and has hosted wine nights and poetry readings. 

But like the rest of the country,  The Bookstore has also been severely affected by the pandemic. “Business is down, way down. Sales each week are what they used to be each day,” he said.

Even the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has not been enough and the diminishing sales weren’t even barely able to “cover the day-to-day expenses like rent, payroll, utilities, insurance and all the other costs of doing business.”

So his GoFundMe page was created and his community’s outpouring support was overwhelming. He’s even received donations from those who haven’t ever stepped inside his humble store. 

Matthew said, $60,000 will be used to pay outstanding debts from spring and summer. The rest of the money will be spent to survive the health crisis.

Source: Inside Edition