Like a lot of small businesses in our region, Firestorm has been in financial distress for the last year. Hurricane Helene was our tipping point, but local cost of living increases, inflation, and higher occupancy costs are huge contributors. In simple language: our sales are down, our costs are (way) up, and capitalism is the worst.
With less than $15k in financial buffer left, we've projected that our co-op will no longer have the resources needed for normal operations by the end of July.
⚠️ What We're Doing
Over recent months, we've analyzed our situation and explored possible interventions. We're planning to modestly increase store hours, refresh our Sustainers Program, explore new advertising opportunities, better promote our bulk / B2B sales, research grants for unfunded work done by our members, and look for new pop-up gigs. More immediately, we're planning a big sale for mid-April and we've requested and received a temporary reduction to our mortgage.
Our hope is that a handful of short-term measures will buy us time to pursue the longer-term shift in revenue needed to stabilize Firestorm. If we don't succeed, our nuclear option is a cut to pay. As a horizontal co-op we set a payrate democratically, so no changes take place without buy-in from our whole team, but moving away from a living wage runs counter to our collective health.
⚠️ What You Can Do!
If Firestorm surviving and thriving is important to you, we welcome your support. Here are a few ways to pitch in:
🌈 Buy your next book from us, or tell someone who buys books about us! Not a physical media person? We also sell audiobooks through Libro.fm.
🌈 Join our Sustainers Program, starting at $10/mo! Members receive discounts on books and can access free shipping, a monthly book subscription, and other great perks.
🌈 If you work in an organization that coordinates book-related programs, reach out to us about bulk purchasing (we offer discounts!)
We extend our huge appreciation to everyone who is already supporting our co-op financially, or otherwise! We've only made it this far because of you.
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Effie Seiberg
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