So lots of folks have asked “what are you moving exactly?” and we actually haven’t had an answer… but now we do: October 19th is the last day we’ll be in Fremont. Why didn’t we have that info until now? Well…
Bad news! Our move is costing us at least $10,000 more than we budgeted for!
Because the previous owner of the space never attached the old floor properly we needed to redo the entire floor, adding over $2000 to our renovation budget. But that’s not the only thing they did wrong… they completely screwed up their construction and business permits and did a *lot* of unpermitted work. What we and our real estate agent expected was a simple permitting process is now going to be a who-knows-how-long process involving consultants, architects, and paying $8,000. (Or more, if more crap comes up.)
And to be completely honest, our moving sale hasn’t been doing great. We’ve sold barely 5% of our inventory in two weeks.
So yeah, we need help.
We need to make up for the at least $10,000 shortfall plus $3,000 for every month we’re closed to make sure employees and bills get paid. Here’s how you can help:
- Come buy things! We are going to continue doing moving sales until we leave Fremont. Not only will this get us money but also gets you things, makes us have to pay less to move things, and also empties our shelves so we can start moving furniture over to the new space!
- Buy books for our charity partners. We will honor all sales so while the moving sale is going on your dollars stretch more. With the government continuing to censor books and libraries Books to Prisoners and Lambert House are doing a lot of important work providing books to incarcerated folks and local queer youth. So please support them (and us).
- Get a Limited Edition Fundraiser Sticker, and possibly get your name engraved on a plaque in the new space!
Yes, we’re running a fundraiser! We have an exclusive Obstruction Permit sticker design from local artists SevenishMagpies (aka me) based on our super popular Assigned Cat at Birth sticker for anyone who would like to participate. We’re not using “donate” because for tax purposes this is not a donation, it’s an exchange of money for goods (and goodwill).
If you are feeling extra generous, we have a special tier where we will put your name on a plaque and put it in the new store! Currently the plan is to put it across from the toilet in the bathroom because that is the one unavoidable place that everyone must look at. Everyone that uses the bathroom MUST behold your generosity!!!
For transparency: Outsider Comics will continue to exist even if we don’t meet our fundraising / sales goals. I can pay for all this by wiping out the rest of my savings (95% of which already went into getting the new space) and taking out personal loans. But heck, it’d be a lot easier if I didn’t have to do that so I can have that for a bigger emergency.
Anyway, thanks y’all, and remember: you don’t have to spend money; just spreading the word is more than enough!