San Francisco's iconic City Lights bookstore on verge of closing

[ghost of miles]

Hope they can somehow ride this out:

City Lights on verge of closing for good

[David Ayers]

They don’t mind asking them to work in a building that could fall on their heads if an angry customer slams the door... 😉

[clifford_thornton]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

This is sad to read, but I have to wonder about this quote, "Unlike some shops, we're unable even to process online orders, since we want our booksellers to remain safely at home."

So instead of having their workers come in to operate a mail order operation - with COVID-19 safety protocols in place - they would rather close and put them all out of jobs? That seems like an odd move. Have they asked their employees if any of them want to try to keep their jobs by operating a mail order operation for a few weeks?

Pretty hard to maintain safety protocols using mass transit in a densely-populated city. A lot of those workers likely don't live in SF proper and have to get there by bus, train, whatever. And then asking those workers to schlep boxes of books to the P.O. every other day? It's just too risky and sorry, as much as we love books, these aren't essential supplies like food or toilet paper. I live in NYC and record/book stores had to do this too.

[sonnymax]

16 minutes ago, bresna said:

COVID-19 might get me and it might kill me, but being broke is not looking good either.

First, you're not going to go broke. You're relatively well off, so don't suggest that you face the same economic hardship that many others do on a regular basis. Second, if you're so willing to sacrifice yourself to maintain a nonessential job, just think of the deaths of your wife, kids or other innocents because it's a "pain in the ass" to do what is needed. 

[ejp626]

I do feel like a total Grinch saying this, but continuing to pay the salaries of their employees and then expecting the general public to fund them through GoFundMe is not the best strategy and is maybe a little pig-headed.  This is exactly the situation for having those employees go on unemployment (since they have paid into the system).  I am far more concerned about finding ways to support gig workers and particularly musicians and actors and other artists who have no entry into the benefits system at all, not in Canada and particularly not in the U.S.  Any donations I make are going in that direction instead.

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by ejp626

[ep1str0phy]

This situation is a little more nuanced than immediately evident, and I say this as both an arts professional (I plink on the guitar for a living) and a Bay Area resident.

For one thing, the Bay and SF in particular are egregiously expensive for both businesses and workers. The Bay has had a lot of independent bookstore closures in the past decade or so, and I might argue that the coronavirus situation has compounded what was already a worsening problem. What is important to note is that this lockdown is not just affecting cultural fixtures like City Lights, but also restaurants, performances venues of all sizes, arts spaces, etc. 

Here's the rub: speaking as an artist, gig workers (as ejp mentions) are in dire need of immediate assistance. I know a lot of other musicians who due to luck of the draw (housing logistics, the nature of their employment, and even their chosen instrument) are almost or completely unemployed right now. 

But - if and when this crisis alleviates, we have to come to terms with the fact that the infrastructure that we have long relied on for our meager opportunities may be drastically reduced. Do venues like the Make-Out Room or the Uptown, who have long been ardent supporters of jazz and experimental music, deserve to go under by forgoing aid? I have both participated in and been deeply heartened by our community's contributions to institutional and/or peer-to-peer relief efforts like the Safety Net Fund and the New Music Solidarity Fund, but I will admit that I have a difficult time tiering need when it comes to sorting out "who needs the money the most." 

City Lights is a big part of San Francisco's cultural history, yes--but it is also one of a handful of venues in the area that carries a diverse stock of jazz literature. It's maybe the only bookstore in the area that would or could realistically carry new copies of a book by Larry Kart or Will Gluck. When George Lewis's AACM book came out, City Lights held a signing (IIRC Roscoe participated in some way). I have no working understanding of the personal ethics or ownership of the bookstore, so it would or wouldn't surprise me to hear something ugly behind the scenes, but I do know that City Lights supports independent and small-scale publishers in a way that is commendable. 

The employee pay situation is also complicated. Remember that the Bay was one of the earliest regions to enact hard social distancing rules (I remember, because I lost > $1000 in gig revenue in one day). Are you to suddenly disenfranchise your longterm employees, in a city that (despite very mixed efforts to confront the issue of evictions in the midst of the lockdown) is already, as I said, egregiously expensive? Are said employees meant to get in line behind the thousands of local residents who are already filing for unemployment? I'm not saying there's a right or wrong answer, but I will say that a lot of hard decisions right now are being made on principle, because there are no right turns when no roads or map exist.

This is all I know--our local community is in dire straits, but this social distancing thing needs to happen, and we need to continue to exercise initiative when it comes to serving all parts of our infrastructure. Hard decisions need to be made and, well, you can't have it all, but you also don't want absolutely nothing or no one to be left standing at the end of the year. 

[BFrank]

Elaine Katzenberger, CEO and Publisher of City Lights Books put up a GoFundMe page yesterday with a $300k goal. Today they blew past that, and as of tonight are up to $368k. Pretty amazing, and shows the love that this store has worldwide. For some background and the challenges they still face, read her comments. I hope they can pull through.

Here's the GoFundMe link. And if you feel so inclined, throw them a few dollars.
KEEP CITY LIGHTS BOOKS ALIVE

[Dmitry]

As much as I welcome community spirit and keeping the landmark store going [they've almost reached half a million dollars in two days], I may not be understanding something about this situation. The CEO, Elaine Katzenberger, has probably applied for the PPP loan/grant with the company's bank, as well as the SBA Grant. The former should cover 2.5 months of her and her employees salaries, payroll taxes and benefits. I, as a small business owner, have applied for those programs a couple of days ago, and while I have no results yet, I'm keeping positive. Assuming that she will get approved for the above-mentioned programs, how will this almost $500,000 gift be factored into their books? It also appears that they are taking on-line orders, just not shipping books at this time, so the business is continuing to generate revenue to a degree. Just some questions I have regarding this...

Edited April 13, 2020 by Dmitry

[JSngry]

6 hours ago, Dmitry said:

. I, as a small business owner...

Are you still a dentist? Just wondering.

[Dmitry]

I am. 

[JSngry]

Gotta be tough. What are the mandates for a practice such as yours right now? Our dentist is currently only accepting "emergency" work, which means that my wife's temporary crowns are going to have to stay temporary until further notice. Not ideal, but if that's the worse that happens to us, hey....

[ghost of miles]

11 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Gotta be tough. What are the mandates for a practice such as yours right now? Our dentist is currently only accepting "emergency" work, which means that my wife's temporary crowns are going to have to stay temporary until further notice. Not ideal, but if that's the worse that happens to us, hey....

I think my dentist is on a similar policy right now--emergency work only.  Just rescheduled my six-month cleaning appointment from this month to July, though like so much else these days the new date is tentative.  

[Dmitry]

Yes, we are pretty much the same here. Only emergencies, and I'm limited to what I can do without another set of hands to help me. I would wager that on average 70% of my patients are women. Most of the emergencies so far have been men. Women just take better care of themselves.

Apologies for the thread derailment, which is almost a custom for us for here.

 

[JSngry]

11 hours ago, Dmitry said:

... I'm limited to what I can do without another set of hands to help me. I would wager that on average 70% of my patients are women. ...

Do hey still use this training film in dentistry colleges?

 

[BFrank]

I thought we were talking about City Lights Books

[Brad]

8 hours ago, BFrank said:

I thought we were talking about City Lights Books

Getting people back on topic can be like pulling teeth.

I was there once about four years ago when I was visiting SF. They had a great collection of NYRB Classics. Hope they can survive. 

[ghost of miles]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

Getting people back on topic can be like pulling teeth. 

 Well, you know us, we like to jaw about all manner of things! 

Sounds as if City Lights will be OK for the time being. I’m still worried about similar small/independent stores and establishments that don’t have the kind of global reputation and recognition that City Lights has and may not be able to attract enough needed support. Trying to do what I can to still give  some business to Landlocked Music here in Bloomington and help to others that are unable to offer any kind of inventory for sale right now.  Not a proprietor, so I’m not really clued in to how much the loan legislation that Congress has passed is going to provide in the way of assistance. 

[catesta]

I have no doubts the bookstore has applied for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program and with the Go Fund Me money, they will be more than okay. In fact, it's probably more money has been generated than if they were open. They own the building, so....

Others will not be so lucky, even with the PPP money, (which will run out soon) plenty will not survive this.

People better start thinking real hard about how and when (which will need to be sooner than later) to start the country up again.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by catesta

[ghost of miles]

7 minutes ago, catesta said:

I have no doubts the bookstore has applied for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program and with the Go Fund Me money, they will be more than okay. In fact, it's probably more money has been generated than if they were open. They own the building, so....

Others will not be so lucky, even with the PPP money, (which will run out soon) plenty will not survive this.

People better start thinking real hard about how and when (which will need to be sooner than later) to start the country up again.

 

 

 

Similar situation with a beloved local bookstore here, in that the owner also owns the building--hope that makes it more likely that she'll be able to ride it out.

Problem with starting up the country again, pre-vaccine development and distribution (still a year away, it seems) is that we can't make people go out and shop again, visit stores/restaurants/bars, stay in hotels, hold conventions, go to ballgames, etc.  Most of the people I've talked to--friends and co-workers--feel very wary of participating in anything, commerce or otherwise, that requires close proximity to others in any number.  (Their assumption, which I share and believe is not groundless, is that the virus is far more widespread than testing indicates, given how low the proportion of tests to the total population is.)  It's a real quandary.  We've got to live somehow, and living inevitably requires commercial transactions and an active economy.  But I don't foresee anything close to a return to normal economic activity once the shelter-in-place restrictions, guidelines, or whatever they are in one's city or state are lifted.  I like what the northeast governors are doing, trying to coordinate a sort of "rolling re-entry," but most people's hunker-down psychology is not going to change much IMO until a vaccine's been developed.  Continuing to read more and more stories about people younger than 50 and without pre-existing conditions dying from this thing.  

Anyway, sorry--above is probably more appropriate for the general COVID-19 thread.  Glad that City Lights will apparently endure for awhile longer.  Hope we can all say the same for the rest of us.  

[JSngry]

11 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

(Their assumption, which I share and believe is not groundless, is that the virus is far more widespread than testing indicates, given how low the proportion of tests to the total population is.) 

Given the nature of any virus, and given the demonstrated behavior of this one, that's a responsible/necessary assumption imo, for no other reasons than common sense about statistical probability. Let it be proven otherwise. Until then, so with what you know relative to what you don't know, and be fully informed about which is which.

34 minutes ago, catesta said:

People better start thinking real hard about how and when (which will need to be sooner than later) to start the country up again.

Paging The Next Dr. Salk, STAT!!!!

Until then, the "war" metaphor has been used a fair amount around our battle with this virus, and if that really is what this is going to be, we should look at how America has maintained and sustained true wartime economies, and then how they created successful post-war economies.

There's been a model for this...and here it gets "political", so that's as far as I go (and it's all kinds of a slippery slope anyway). Just saying, though, America HAS done this before.

[Brad]

According to Tuesday’s Business section of the Times, City Lights has survived, thanks to its GoFundMe campaign, netting $400,000 after seeking $300,000. 

[catesta]

On 4/16/2020 at 2:06 PM, Brad said:

According to Tuesday’s Business section of the Times, City Lights has survived, thanks to its GoFundMe campaign, netting $400,000 after seeking $300,000. 

The hand is still out though.

 

[Dmitry]

This is hitting much closer to home for me  - the Strand  is on the ropes, and might close.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/famed-strand-bookstore-warns-it-may-close-due-to-covid-19

I cannot blame myself, as I have been a customer for thirty years. I don’t remember the first book I bought there, but I am sure I was poor. I am not poor now, and I still shop there for my books. Wish the store all the luck. It will hurt if they close.

[HutchFan]

Oh man. What a bummer.

I always go to The Strand when I'm visiting NYC.  Such a great bookstore.  Hopefully, they'll find a way to hang on until we turn the corner with this pandemic.

[ghost of miles]

3 hours ago, Dmitry said:

This is hitting much closer to home for me  - the Strand  is on the ropes, and might close.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/famed-strand-bookstore-warns-it-may-close-due-to-covid-19

I cannot blame myself, as I have been a customer for thirty years. I don’t remember the first book I bought there, but I am sure I was poor. I am not poor now, and I still shop there for my books. Wish the store all the luck. It will hurt if they close.

Oh man!  I’ve gone there every single time that I’ve visited the city in the past several years—and oddly enough was just gazing fondly at a Strand purchase with the store sticker on the back of it a couple of hours ago, remembering what a joy it’s been to go there. It was going to be one of several definite stops for my planned May 2020 NYC trip with my girlfriend, which has been put on indefinite hold. Thanks for posting this... I’ll try to order some books through their website. 
 

P.S. Iirc the family that runs the Strand also owns the building. Hopefully that increases their chances of riding out the next few months... while they’ll still be on the hook for property taxes and utilities, at least I assume they’re not paying rent. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by ghost of miles