Hi Dear Sponsors,
It's been a busy couple of months. In case you were wondering, you didn't miss last month's sponsor note -- there wasn't one. I kept hoping that I'd have time to write a followup to the article about local businesses that I wrote back in July but the chance kept slipping past me. And then I looked up and it was the 24th of August, so I figured that it didn't make sense to send a note for August. So I planned to send one out right at the beginning of September. You see how that worked out.
On the bright side, the hectic pace isn't the result of a problem, per se. I've had a lot of work to do at the new building and so it's been a bit all-consuming. Not to mention tiring. I'm pleased to say that I can still do just about as much construction work in a day as I could when I was 40. It's just that I'm much (much!) more sore and tired at the end of it. That makes it hard to write something clever (or write something at all, really) at the end of the day.
It's looking like this month is going to be more of the same, which is why I realized this morning that I'd better go into work later so I can get this and the following article written _before_ I've spent a day framing walls.
Speaking of framing walls, what's making this month extra-plus busy is that the city is going to be replacing the sidewalk all along our block on Haight St. Based on the work they've done, it's going to look great and the existing paving surely needs to be replaced.
The catch for me is that the front of the store there doesn't exist yet. We tore out the old, crummy one months ago to put up temporary framing and plywood. You may have seen the punchline to this story coming by now -- the temporary covering is resting on the sidewalk that is going to be replaced. Granted, we could remove it all, build a new, temporary wall at the property line, and then put it all back once the sidewalk was done. But, all together, that's several days of work that I'd rather not waste. The other option is to get the framing for the new storefront in place before the sidewalk work. Once the framing is there, we can cover it with plywood and do the finishing work at our leisure.
When the city sent the notice and schedule for the work on the sidewalk, it was supposed to happen in front of our shop in five weeks. "Oh my," I thought, "I guess we'll have to jump right on that after the asbestos guys have removed the floor."
Then I talked with the job foreman yesterday. It seems that the local merchants have put pressure on the city to get the work done faster. So they're going to be at our shop by the END OF NEXT WEEK.
"Oh hell," I thought, "I guess that I know what I'm doing every waking moment between now and the 17th."
Bottom line is this -- the followup to my July article is going to be shorter and less comprehensive than I planned. It's a damn shame because I got some great comments back from my first piece that improved my understanding, both of the problem and the breadth of it. (Side note - Thank you Bruno, Trudy, Lisa, Jayson, Lydia, Eloise, and Donald. I didn't have time to reply to all of you but I really appreciated your comments.) But I figure it's better to write something short than to have a plan for something long that never gets written. I hope to come back to the topic sometime.
The other bottom line is . . . I'm not getting a whole lot of rest for the next week. Seriously though, this isn't going to be impossible to get done. I've got a clear idea what I'm building and it's not even close to as tricky as the bathroom. It shouldn't be too hard -- just long and tiring.
Good thing I can still work like a 40 year-old, eh? And also I good thing that I have _a lot_ of ibuprofen.
All Best,
Alan
PS Like last time, I'm going to put the article at the end of this note.
PPS Despite the construction work, I will be at the social this Saturday. I hope to see you there.
Upcoming Events
The Ebenezer Place version:
(1) Thursday, September 12th at 6:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Informal signing with D.J. Butler (WITCHY KINGDOM) Christopher Husberg (FEAR THE STARS) and Christopher Ruocchio (THE HOWLING DARK)
(2) Saturday, September 14th 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- In conversation with Fonda Lee (JADE WAR) and Megan O'Keefe (VELOCITY WEAPON)
(3) Saturday, September 14th, 7:00 pm -- Fall Sponsor Social at Borderlands Books
(4) Sunday, September 15th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading, signing and Q&A with Chad Stroup, author of SEXY LEPER
(5) September 15th at 6:30 pm (PUBLIC) -- SF in SF (at the American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina, San Francisco) with authors Christopher Brown and Hannu Rajaniemi
(6) Sunday, September 22nd, 12:00 noon -- Picnic and BBQ at Table #15 in Lindley Meadow, Golden Gate Park
(7) Saturday. September 28th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading and signing for SHATTER WAR by Dana Fredsti and Dave Fitzgerald
(8) Sunday, September 29th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading and signing for THE FUTURE OF ANOTHER TIMELINE by Annalee Newitz
(9) Wednesday, October 2nd, 6:30 pm (PUBLIC) -- SF in SF (at the American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina, San Francisco) with authors Garth Nix and E. Lily Yu
(10) Saturday, October 5th at 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading and signing for TURNING DARKNESS INTO LIGHT by Marie Brennan
The Yonge Street version:
(1) Thursday, September 12th at 6:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Informal signing with D.J. Butler (WITCHY KINGDOM, Baen, Hardcover, $25.00) Christopher Husberg (FEAR THE STARS, Titan Books, Trade Paperback, $14.95) and Christopher Ruocchio (THE HOWLING DARK, DAW, Hardcover, $27.00) - Join us for a meet-and-greet signing with three fantastic up and coming authors!
(2) Saturday, September 14th 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- In conversation with Fonda Lee. We're happy to welcome World Fantasy Award winner Fonda Lee to Borderlands! Ms. Lee will be presenting JADE WAR, the second novel in the Green Bone Series. (The first book in the series, JADE CITY, won that World Fantasy Award, and "was nominated for the Nebula Award and the Locus Award, and was named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, Syfy Wire, and others".) Ms. Lee will be in conversation with fabulous local author Megan E. O'Keefe. We hope you'll join us to meet both authors and explore this epic and magical fantasy series!
(3) Saturday, September 14th, 7:00 pm -- Fall Sponsor Social at Borderlands Books. Join us for food, drink, and merriment as we talk about books, buy books, and maybe even win some free books in the raffle! Our Fall sponsor social is usually the busiest one of the year, and we hope you'll come by to meet fellow sponsors and toast the absolutely incredible fact that YOU made it possible for the store to survive. Bring your favorite treat or drink to share, be super-social, or simply find a book and a quiet corner to commune -- we're just delighted to have you.
(4) Sunday, September 15th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading, signing and Q&A with Chad Stroup, author of SEXY LEPER. From the book description, "It's Halloween in the Hollywood Hills, and Kat Dyer's going to have the sexiest costume for a night of shameless debauchery. However, Kat's plan is derailed when the costume shop screws up her order and gives her a costume that is the polar-opposite of sexy. Deciding it's better to be temporarily ugly and seen than beautiful and quickly forgotten, Kat attends the biggest party of the year, only to awaken with the strangest post-Halloween hangover ever: partygoers are transforming into the likenesses of the costumes they wore the night before. Meanwhile, a mysterious force begins to stalk and pick them off on by one. Kat and her friends must discover the cause of the horror, and what they find will haunt them forever."
(5) Sunday, September 15th at 6:30 pm (PUBLIC) -- SF in SF (at the American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina, San Francisco) with authors Christopher Brown and Hannu Rajaniemi - (Suggested donation $10.) Doors and bar at 6:00 pm, event begins at 6:30 pm. We're so happy to participate in the Science Fiction in San Francisco reading series! This month we're joined by fabulous authors Christopher Brown and Hannu Rajaniemi. The authors will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A from the audience moderated by Terry Bisson. Authors will schmooze & sign books after. Books will be available for sale. Seating is limited, so first come, first seated. Bar proceeds benefit the American Bookbinders Museum. Questions? Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com.
(6) Sunday, September 22nd, 12:00 noon (PUBLIC) -- Picnic and BBQ at Table 15 in Lindley Meadow, Golden Gate Park. Located near the western-most end of Lindley Meadow, join the crew of Borderlands as we soak up the (hopefully) warm San Francisco Fall sunshine and grill our favorite picnic treats. We're actually leaving the store and venturing into the outside world for a potluck cookout in Golden Gate Park! And, since it's September, it'll be the height of San Francisco summertime. We've reserved table #15 (as close to the bathrooms as we could get!) at Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the TL;DR version is that Lindley Meadow is on the south side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and toys and games if you want them, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome, so please do bring 'em along.
(7) Saturday, September 28th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald, Reading, Q & A, and signing for TIME SHARDS: SHATTER WAR - Hometown favorites Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald present: SHATTER WAR, the thrilling sequel to TIME SHARDS! Earth's past, present, and future have shattered in "the Event," yielding a terrifying new world of prehistoric monsters, lost cultures, strange technologies, and displaced armies. Coming from different points throughout history, a desperate band of survivors join "Merlin," a mysterious figure who may be their only hope to save the world -- if he can be trusted. When their twenty-third-century ship the Vanuatu is sabotaged by an unknown enemy and thrown far off its course, the team must discover who is responsible, even as they are split apart and fight to survive in the war-torn Shard world. . . .
(8) Sunday, September 29th, 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Reading and signing from THE FUTURE OF ANOTHER TIMELINE by Annalee Newitz. We're always thrilled to welcome local author Annalee Newitz to the store! Here's some info about the new novel from the publisher: "In a modern-day United States just a step away from our own, time travel is possible -- in fact, it has existed for as long as humanity itself. Jumping into the past is simple, and scientists say that altering the timeline is almost impossible. But Tess, an idealistic geology professor, has figured out how to use time travel to try to undo a horrible injustice in the past whose effects are still being felt in her own time. Meanwhile, in 1992, teenage riot grrl Beth's ordinary life is about to become a tangle of toxic friendship and murder. And across the timeline, a secret war is brewing as a group of men attempt to destroy time travel. If they succeed, only a small elite will have the power to shape past, present, and future. Tess and Beth are part of this hidden war that stretches back millions of years. But with the help of unlikely allies from times past and times yet to come, they may be able to save each other -- and build a different future." We do hope you'll join us to meet Annalee and check out this awesome book!
(9) Wednesday, October 2nd, 6:30 pm (PUBLIC) -- SF in SF (at the American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina, San Francisco) with authors Garth Nix and E. Lily Yu. (Suggested donation $10.) Doors and bar at 6:00 pm, event begins at 6:30 pm. A special mid-week SF in SF! We're so happy to participate in the Science Fiction in San Francisco reading series! This time we're thrilled to welcome Garth Nix and E. Lily Yu! The authors will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A from the audience moderated by Terry Bisson. Authors will schmooze & sign books after. Books will be available for sale. Seating is limited, so first come, first seated. Bar proceeds benefit the American Bookbinders Museum. Questions? Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com.
(10) Saturday, October 5th at 3:00 pm (PUBLIC) -- Marie Brennan, TURNING DARKNESS INTO LIGHT - We're always happy to welcome local author Marie Brennan to Borderlands! Here's the cover copy from her new novel (featuring Lady Trent's granddaughter!), which she'll be showing off October 5th: "As the renowned granddaughter of Isabella Camherst (Lady Trent, of the riveting and daring Draconic adventure memoirs) Audrey Camherst has always known she, too, would want to make her scholarly mark upon a chosen field of study. When Lord Gleinleigh recruits Audrey to decipher a series of ancient tablets holding the secrets of the ancient Draconean civilization, she has no idea that her research will plunge her into an intricate conspiracy, one meant to incite rebellion and invoke war. Alongside dearest childhood friend and fellow archeologist Kudshayn, she must find proof of the conspiracy before it's too late. TURNING DARKNESS INTO LIGHT is a delightful fantasy of manners, the heir to the award-winning Natural History of Dragons series, a perfect stepping stone into an alternate Victorian-esque fantasy landscape."
Further Thoughts about Small and Local Businesses
After publishing the first part of this article, I received a number of comments via email. The overall content of them supported a conclusion that I had arrived at already but also made me realize that the extent of the problem was larger than I thought.
What I expected was this: the people who wrote me all support local businesses in a conscious and systematic way. Given the composition of the group that gets these monthly letters, that wasn't a surprise. After all, you all support Borderlands.
What I didn't expect was how broadly the environment in the Bay Area is hard on local businesses of _all_ types. I heard from a contractor who mentors high school students and suggests to them that they'd be well advised to look for union work because it's too hard to make a living working as an independent contractor. I heard from a martial arts instructor who hasn't been able to find a viable space in the East Bay to use for classes. And I heard about multiple professional chefs who have closed or sold their restaurants and who now work as personal cooks for wealthy individuals.
I don't want to sound too dire, but it seems that San Francisco is turning into a city in which there are only three types of people: employees, managers, and a tiny pool of landlords. I suppose there are children and students as well but, if this goes on, they're just employees and managers to-be. Damn few of them will ever become landlords or, for that matter, own their own home. (As a matter of clarification: even the CEO or Director of the Board of a corporation is only a manager. "Ownership" almost never clearly attaches to an individual.) Imagine that: no business owners. Just employees reporting to managers who report to other managers who eventually report to a top manager who then reports to a pool of "owners" who are profoundly uninvolved with what happens at the company week-to-week or even month-to-month.
And, I fear, this is a pattern that is happening all over the country. Just not as fast as in San Francisco.
What to do?
More specifically, what to do at an individual and local level? There are bigger movements taking place (Ecommerce, corporate mergers and acquisitions, reduced enforcement of anti-trust laws, limited appetite for labor protections, and so on) but that's far outside the scope of what I feel qualified to discuss.
The first thing is to support local businesses. But you all know that and are doing it to the degree that works for you. I'm not going to spend much time on that topic except to point out two things:
1) Supporting local business doesn't mean turning your life inside-out to _only_ shop local. For most people, shopping exclusively at local businesses is just not practical. And not just in terms of cost; there are some sorts of businesses that just don't exist locally anymore (or they're hard to find and hard to get to). For example, I go to Walgreens for prescription drugs because there are no local pharmacies anywhere near me. The goal should be to shop local _first_. Make local businesses your preferred choice. That's all you've got to do.
2) The foregoing is especially important to keep in mind because the other part of supporting local businesses is encouraging other people to do so. All of you reading this already know why it's important to shop and spend local. You might be able to make small changes to your habits, but you've already had most of the effect you're going to have. But, if you can get other people to do it to, that makes a difference (possibly a big difference). I'm not suggesting that you start shaming your friends for going to Starbucks or for shopping at Amazon. That'll just make you a jerk. But, you can point out to them that shifting their habits even a little bit matters. Local businesses are generally pretty small-scale operations. One extra full table a night can make or break a restaurant. One more hardcover book sold every day would pay our insurance at Borderlands. You get the idea.
But, as we've seen over the past years, it doesn't seem that individuals making an effort to support local business is going to be enough. That idea has been around for a while now and it hasn't fixed the problem. Perhaps more education about it might make the difference but, at this point, I doubt it.
I believe that what it's going to take is for government and our elected officials to put their money where their mouths are; make the health and viability of local business a real priority rather than something that is merely given lip-service.
On a nuts-and-bolts level, what would that be like? Here's one suggestion, but it's far from the only way.
First, define what "local" and "small" business means. Let's say that "local" means that it is either physically within San Francisco or, if it doesn't have a physical location (think contractors and gardeners), the majority owner of the business resides in San Francisco. "Small" can be based on annual gross receipts and should probably vary by business type (for example, a small landscaping company probably has lower expenses relative to its income than a mid-sized restaurant). However, here's a hint -- the reasonable gross receipts threshold for a "small" business that maintains a physical location and a staff (for example, a corner store, a restaurant or a bookstore) is likely in the millions of dollars. The expenses for a business like that are shockingly high in SF right now and not likely to go down much. Which means that two million dollars in annual sales doesn't actually represent either much profit or that a business is particularly large. I don't want to spend much time getting into minute detail about the math here but, if you doubt me, drop me a note and I'll put together an explanation for you.
(Fun fact - as of 2018, the small business exemption threshold for payroll tax was $300,000. That's roughly the payroll for 11 employees working full time at _minimum_ wage. When the cafe was open, we often edged close to that limit and one year we passed it. The gross receipts threshold was $1,120,000. I'm pretty sure that most of the corner stores in San Francisco do that much business in a year. If a business is over either of those thresholds, it has to pay tax.)
Keep the two qualifications separate. Just because a business isn't "small", the fact that it's "local" still matters.
Then, make doing business easier, faster, and less expensive in any way possible. Every delay, problem, and expense makes running a business more difficult, especially if it's a small one, because at the end the cost is paid with the same resources -- time and energy.
(A side note: if you're serious about accomplishing that, don't make those goals something that "should be taken into consideration" by a department whose main job is doing something else, like planning, issuing permits, levying taxes and so forth. Make it someone's job to do nothing other than make things better for local businesses. Hopefully several "someones", or even an actual office. And no, the SF Department of Small Business is not it -- not enough power and not enough information.)
Here are some specific examples:
Easier:
Dedicated assistance with building permits
A local commercial parking permit exempting the holder from parking meter fees and residential street parking time limits
Assistance with city tax returns, especially business property tax returns
Free legal advice, especially on commercial leases and disputes
Faster:
Accelerated review of conditional use permits (they can take 9-12 months and you can't really start without _already_ having a signed lease)
A one-stop registration center for new businesses, including highly informed advisors
Something similar to the existing 311 service to act as a clearing house specifically for small business concerns and questions
Less Expensive:
Fee waivers for any and all city fees, be they construction permits, business licenses, sign permits, health department permits, and so on.
Reduced or eliminated taxes for payroll/gross receipts and business property (there are exemptions for the payroll/gross receipts taxes but they are too low - i.e. corner stores often have to pay them despite the exemption)
Reduced electrical fees from the city-owned electrical generation system
That is just a short, off-the-top of my head list. I'm sure that there are many other and better ideas that could be implemented. I'm also positive that I'm completely failed to consider problems that are major issues for other type of businesses, since I can only view this from the perspective of a bookseller.
Granted, some of these ideas would cost money. Moreso, some of them would deprive the city of income. But, local business are a truly tiny part of the commercial environment in San Francisco (or any other city, for that matter). That's part of the problem that we face - little of the money that moves around the city even touches us. I suspect that there are single companies in SF that produce more revenue for the city than all the small local businesses put together. Waiving parking meter income or the $375 in business property tax I paid this year . . . it's just a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket compared to SF's annual budget (12.3 billion dollars for 2019). I have a hard time believing that, for example, giving every contractor who lives in SF free parking would make any damn difference at all to the bottom line. So why not do it? Even if it pinches the city's budget; wouldn't you prefer that the budget get pinched by supporting local business than by any of the other dumb-ass things that money gets wasted on?
In closing, for all that small businesses represent just a tiny slice of the commercial activity in a city, we do so much to give the city its character, shape, and reputation. City Lights Bookstore, Cafe Trieste, Twin Peaks Tavern, the whole of Chinatown, Foreign Cinema, Body Manipulations, The DNA Lounge, The Pork Store Cafe, Arizmendi Bakery, Bi Rite . . . the list goes on and on. On a profound level, local businesses are what define San Francisco for both we who live here and for those who visit.
Beyond the many social and financial benefits that local businesses bring -- can you imagine what SF (or New York, Portland, or even Chapel Hill, North Carolina) would be like if even half of the local businesses were to close and be replaced by their national chain substitutes?
I don't even want to imagine what that would be like. And I really, really don't want to see it happen.
Showing posts with label Haight Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haight Street. Show all posts
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Monday, November 13, 2017
Sponsor Letter, November 13th 2017
Hello Dear Sponsors,
First off, thank you for being patient with my recent silence (although, given how I have been flooding your mail boxes over the past month, you might have enjoyed the break). After the combination of going a month without a day off, being out of town at the World Fantasy Convention, and then catching up on everything that I had let slide over the last month (bookkeeping, for one) . . . well, let's just say I needed a little breather.
Before I dive into the current building news, let me catch you up on our upcoming events. Right now we've only a few scheduled -
Saturday, November, 18th, 10 am to 11 pm (yup, you read the time right) - Borderlands 20th Anniversary Party (and Sponsor Social) - All the details are at the end of this note but the short version is:
Noon to 6 pm - Author signings galore (including folks like Gail Carriger, Richard Kadrey, and Peter Beagle) plus staff recommended books at cost, cake, and DJ Steve Boyett.
6 pm to 7 pm - We'll be setting up for the social but you're welcome to hang out.
7pm to 11 pm - Sponsor Social! Indian food to die for, lotsa drinks, more DJ, silly stories from Alan, door prizes, much talk of Haight Street and world domination.
11 pm to ??? - If you're still standing (I don't need to be standing -- Jude's got a wheelbarrow for me), close-down drinks across the street at the Phoenix Pub.
Tuesday, November 28th at 7 pm - Sponsor Cocktails at Churchill
We're continuing our Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) <http://www.churchillsf.com/>; some combination of us will be there from at least 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm. No need to RSVP and any number of guests and friends are welcome. The bar is INCREDIBLY convenient to public transit -- the MUNI Metro Underground (via F, K, L, and M lines at Church Street,) and J and N lines stop less than a block away.
Sunday, December 10th, 2 pm to 6 pm - Dickens Fair
We're going to Dickens Fair as a group <https://dickensfair.com>. We've arranged group tickets for $20 per person and there's no limit to the number of people who can come so please feel free to bring friends, family, children, strangers you met at the bar last night, and so on. If you'd like to come, please drop us a line by replying to this email and include the number of people you will be bringing. We'll get back to you and make arrangements for pre-payment for the tickets. Look for car-pooling information in the next sponsor note.
In the next sponsor note I'll have the schedule of events for the first part of next year, details about sponsorship renewals, mail order information for anniversary hoodies and lots of other news. But for now, we still need to work out all those details.
Now, some news about our new building. First off, it's paid for and escrow will close on Tuesday. I've got a long piece explaining where we go from here in the store newsletter, which I'll be sending out shortly after (or, perhaps, before) this note. Something that I'm not mentioning in the newsletter is that we've got an official building historian and he's been damn busy over the past few weeks.
Zach Harper has been a sponsor since the very beginning (and part of the first 300 -- #260 to be precise). He got interested in finding out a bit about the history of 1377 Haight St. and did a bit of digging. And then he caught the city-history bug (something that afflicts Jude and I, BTW). He's still working on the previous occupants of the building but he's got an awful lot of the history nailed down already. You can see his work thus far at -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K6LYhBN0A3cvqvldjvTbeUPopjlOxEubYENKp12hlrc/edit?usp=sharing . It's so cool what he's found -- from the original advertisement when the lot was sold at auction through the old Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and even bios of the owners and the architect. We are still very short on historic pictures of the place so, if you run across any, drop me a line and I'll pass them along to him.
In other building news, I'm going to be hanging around the place this Thursday, November the 16th, from 4 pm to 8 pm. If you'd like to come down, take a look at the space, say hi, and chat with me about layout and future plans -- I'd love to see you and show off our new House on the Borderland. The address is 1377 Haight St. and it's just east of Masonic Avenue.
I'm really looking forward to seeing you, either at the building, at the party, or at Dickens Fair. We really do have an awful lot to celebrate!
All Best,
Alan
Complete Anniversary Party Details
Borderlands 20th Anniversary Party, Saturday, November 18th, 10 am to 6 pm - We're celebrating two decades of bookselling with an all-day party. At noon, the store will open to the general public and the fun really starts. We'll have a rotating lineup of some of our favorite local authors signing their work in half-hour blocks. The schedule is:
12:00 pm: Dana Fredsti, Nick Mamatas, Megan E. O'Keefe, and Tim Pratt; 1:00 pm: Peter S. Beagle, Michael Blumlein, Becca Gomez Farrell, and Nancy Jane Moore; 2:00 pm: Richard Kadrey, Ellen Klages, and Pat Murphy; 3:00 pm: Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz; 4:30 pm: Cara Black and Kelli Stanley; 5:00 pm: Steve Boyett & Ken Mitchroney, Gail Carriger, and Katherine Kerr.
Also, as long as supplies last, we'll have our staff's selection of their all-time favorite books for sale at our cost as a "thank you" for 20 wonderful years of bookselling. Last but not least, we'll be unveiling our limited edition anniversary hoodie featuring a lovely design by Michelle Rapp. It's right on time for the chilly season and would make a great holiday present for the booklover in your life.
At four, the music starts, courtesy of DJ Steve Boyett of Groovelectric and Podrunner fame - http://www.groovelectric.com (since there's going to be music, we might just have to start our afternoon cocktails around then, too). Also at four there will be an extraordinary cake, thanks to the incomparable Madeleine Robins.
Then come 6 pm we'll be closing early to get ready for our last sponsor party of 2017. We hope you'll join us for an incredible day!
First off, thank you for being patient with my recent silence (although, given how I have been flooding your mail boxes over the past month, you might have enjoyed the break). After the combination of going a month without a day off, being out of town at the World Fantasy Convention, and then catching up on everything that I had let slide over the last month (bookkeeping, for one) . . . well, let's just say I needed a little breather.
Before I dive into the current building news, let me catch you up on our upcoming events. Right now we've only a few scheduled -
Saturday, November, 18th, 10 am to 11 pm (yup, you read the time right) - Borderlands 20th Anniversary Party (and Sponsor Social) - All the details are at the end of this note but the short version is:
Noon to 6 pm - Author signings galore (including folks like Gail Carriger, Richard Kadrey, and Peter Beagle) plus staff recommended books at cost, cake, and DJ Steve Boyett.
6 pm to 7 pm - We'll be setting up for the social but you're welcome to hang out.
7pm to 11 pm - Sponsor Social! Indian food to die for, lotsa drinks, more DJ, silly stories from Alan, door prizes, much talk of Haight Street and world domination.
11 pm to ??? - If you're still standing (I don't need to be standing -- Jude's got a wheelbarrow for me), close-down drinks across the street at the Phoenix Pub.
Tuesday, November 28th at 7 pm - Sponsor Cocktails at Churchill
We're continuing our Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) <http://www.churchillsf.com/>; some combination of us will be there from at least 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm. No need to RSVP and any number of guests and friends are welcome. The bar is INCREDIBLY convenient to public transit -- the MUNI Metro Underground (via F, K, L, and M lines at Church Street,) and J and N lines stop less than a block away.
Sunday, December 10th, 2 pm to 6 pm - Dickens Fair
We're going to Dickens Fair as a group <https://dickensfair.com>. We've arranged group tickets for $20 per person and there's no limit to the number of people who can come so please feel free to bring friends, family, children, strangers you met at the bar last night, and so on. If you'd like to come, please drop us a line by replying to this email and include the number of people you will be bringing. We'll get back to you and make arrangements for pre-payment for the tickets. Look for car-pooling information in the next sponsor note.
In the next sponsor note I'll have the schedule of events for the first part of next year, details about sponsorship renewals, mail order information for anniversary hoodies and lots of other news. But for now, we still need to work out all those details.
Now, some news about our new building. First off, it's paid for and escrow will close on Tuesday. I've got a long piece explaining where we go from here in the store newsletter, which I'll be sending out shortly after (or, perhaps, before) this note. Something that I'm not mentioning in the newsletter is that we've got an official building historian and he's been damn busy over the past few weeks.
Zach Harper has been a sponsor since the very beginning (and part of the first 300 -- #260 to be precise). He got interested in finding out a bit about the history of 1377 Haight St. and did a bit of digging. And then he caught the city-history bug (something that afflicts Jude and I, BTW). He's still working on the previous occupants of the building but he's got an awful lot of the history nailed down already. You can see his work thus far at -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K6LYhBN0A3cvqvldjvTbeUPopjlOxEubYENKp12hlrc/edit?usp=sharing . It's so cool what he's found -- from the original advertisement when the lot was sold at auction through the old Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and even bios of the owners and the architect. We are still very short on historic pictures of the place so, if you run across any, drop me a line and I'll pass them along to him.
In other building news, I'm going to be hanging around the place this Thursday, November the 16th, from 4 pm to 8 pm. If you'd like to come down, take a look at the space, say hi, and chat with me about layout and future plans -- I'd love to see you and show off our new House on the Borderland. The address is 1377 Haight St. and it's just east of Masonic Avenue.
I'm really looking forward to seeing you, either at the building, at the party, or at Dickens Fair. We really do have an awful lot to celebrate!
All Best,
Alan
Complete Anniversary Party Details
Borderlands 20th Anniversary Party, Saturday, November 18th, 10 am to 6 pm - We're celebrating two decades of bookselling with an all-day party. At noon, the store will open to the general public and the fun really starts. We'll have a rotating lineup of some of our favorite local authors signing their work in half-hour blocks. The schedule is:
12:00 pm: Dana Fredsti, Nick Mamatas, Megan E. O'Keefe, and Tim Pratt; 1:00 pm: Peter S. Beagle, Michael Blumlein, Becca Gomez Farrell, and Nancy Jane Moore; 2:00 pm: Richard Kadrey, Ellen Klages, and Pat Murphy; 3:00 pm: Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz; 4:30 pm: Cara Black and Kelli Stanley; 5:00 pm: Steve Boyett & Ken Mitchroney, Gail Carriger, and Katherine Kerr.
Also, as long as supplies last, we'll have our staff's selection of their all-time favorite books for sale at our cost as a "thank you" for 20 wonderful years of bookselling. Last but not least, we'll be unveiling our limited edition anniversary hoodie featuring a lovely design by Michelle Rapp. It's right on time for the chilly season and would make a great holiday present for the booklover in your life.
At four, the music starts, courtesy of DJ Steve Boyett of Groovelectric and Podrunner fame - http://www.groovelectric.com (since there's going to be music, we might just have to start our afternoon cocktails around then, too). Also at four there will be an extraordinary cake, thanks to the incomparable Madeleine Robins.
Then come 6 pm we'll be closing early to get ready for our last sponsor party of 2017. We hope you'll join us for an incredible day!
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Building Update #10 - Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
Hi Everyone,
We've finished negotiations about the price reduction on the building. There was a little back and forth but not as much as I expected. Thanks to the fast work of Diarmuid MacNiell and Jon Fitzgibbon, we had estimates for a total of roughly $115,000 of repair work. Specifically; repairing the retaining wall in the backyard, sorting out the funky framing in the basement, doing a soft-story retrofit, and replacing the roof.
The negotiation was pretty fast since two of those items we knew about going in (the roof and the soft-story). It would be pretty disingenuous to say that we hadn't considered those costs when we made our offer and so we started asking for $70,000 off. With a little back-and-forth, we settled for $41,000 off the agreed price. Since the two things we didn't know about going in (the basement and the retaining wall) were estimated at at total of $42,000, I think we did pretty well. I might have been happier with an extra thousand dollars but, when we're doing a two-million-plus dollar deal, $1000 is kind of small change. I didn't think it was worth fighting over.
So, excluding closing costs, the final price was $2,259,000. And that feels really darn good. It also means we've got a bit of a surplus since we were aiming for a $100,000 repairs budget and now we've got $141,000. I think that the best plan is to get the repairs done and then see where we stand. I expect that I'll use the surplus to pay off some loans early but we'll see how things shake out once the hammers hit the nails.
The most exciting thing is that all the contingencies have been removed as of this evening. Since those are the only ways out of the deal for both the buyer and the seller, with them taken care of it's just a matter of finishing the escrow period and then were done. Translation -- there isn't any work left to do (other than lots of planning) and it's very unlikely that anything is going to happen at this point to derail the deal.
I'm going to be talking with the seller to see if we can close sooner. There isn't an advantage to taking a longer time and, the sooner it's closed, the sooner we can get in there and start working. I'll probably need to give the seller more time to get his stuff out of the place (since it's reasonable to figure that he planned on being out based on the original closing date) but that won't stop us from tearing out ivy, cleaning up the basement, getting measurements taken and plans drawn up.
It's all coming together very nicely.
Which is good; because I'm on a plane tomorrow at 7 am for San Antonio and the World Fantasy Convention. I'll be back in town Monday night and back at work on Tuesday. If you're going to the convention, make sure you let me know and I'll get you an invitation to our Sponsors' Scotch tasting on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
Since I'll be at the convention and running around quite a bit, please forgive me if I'm less responsive than usual to email. Scott Cox is coming along and so he'll be a bit slow in the email department as well.
Thank you all for everything you've done for Borderlands over the years. Day after tomorrow will be exactly 20 years to the day since I opened the shop's doors in Hayes Valley. It's been a hell of a trip and I'm looking forward to the next 20 years with unbridled hope and excitement. At the beginning of 2015, I never imagined that we'd all be here and doing this.
All Best,
Alan
We've finished negotiations about the price reduction on the building. There was a little back and forth but not as much as I expected. Thanks to the fast work of Diarmuid MacNiell and Jon Fitzgibbon, we had estimates for a total of roughly $115,000 of repair work. Specifically; repairing the retaining wall in the backyard, sorting out the funky framing in the basement, doing a soft-story retrofit, and replacing the roof.
The negotiation was pretty fast since two of those items we knew about going in (the roof and the soft-story). It would be pretty disingenuous to say that we hadn't considered those costs when we made our offer and so we started asking for $70,000 off. With a little back-and-forth, we settled for $41,000 off the agreed price. Since the two things we didn't know about going in (the basement and the retaining wall) were estimated at at total of $42,000, I think we did pretty well. I might have been happier with an extra thousand dollars but, when we're doing a two-million-plus dollar deal, $1000 is kind of small change. I didn't think it was worth fighting over.
So, excluding closing costs, the final price was $2,259,000. And that feels really darn good. It also means we've got a bit of a surplus since we were aiming for a $100,000 repairs budget and now we've got $141,000. I think that the best plan is to get the repairs done and then see where we stand. I expect that I'll use the surplus to pay off some loans early but we'll see how things shake out once the hammers hit the nails.
The most exciting thing is that all the contingencies have been removed as of this evening. Since those are the only ways out of the deal for both the buyer and the seller, with them taken care of it's just a matter of finishing the escrow period and then were done. Translation -- there isn't any work left to do (other than lots of planning) and it's very unlikely that anything is going to happen at this point to derail the deal.
I'm going to be talking with the seller to see if we can close sooner. There isn't an advantage to taking a longer time and, the sooner it's closed, the sooner we can get in there and start working. I'll probably need to give the seller more time to get his stuff out of the place (since it's reasonable to figure that he planned on being out based on the original closing date) but that won't stop us from tearing out ivy, cleaning up the basement, getting measurements taken and plans drawn up.
It's all coming together very nicely.
Which is good; because I'm on a plane tomorrow at 7 am for San Antonio and the World Fantasy Convention. I'll be back in town Monday night and back at work on Tuesday. If you're going to the convention, make sure you let me know and I'll get you an invitation to our Sponsors' Scotch tasting on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
Since I'll be at the convention and running around quite a bit, please forgive me if I'm less responsive than usual to email. Scott Cox is coming along and so he'll be a bit slow in the email department as well.
Thank you all for everything you've done for Borderlands over the years. Day after tomorrow will be exactly 20 years to the day since I opened the shop's doors in Hayes Valley. It's been a hell of a trip and I'm looking forward to the next 20 years with unbridled hope and excitement. At the beginning of 2015, I never imagined that we'd all be here and doing this.
All Best,
Alan
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Building Update #9 - WE DID IT!
As of about 60 minutes ago, we had enough funds in the bank to pay for the building. I cannot tell you how happy and excited I am about this. It truly is a dream come true.
More than that though -- we've shown our city, our field, and the world what is possible. A few days ago I was talking with one of our lenders in the office. He thanked me for changing the way that people look at the world and expanding what people believe is possible. I was surprised and kind of embarrassed by the sentiment. I'm not some big deal mover-and-shaker; I'm just a guy who likes to sell books.
But then I thought about it a bit and pointed out to him that I didn't do that. We all did. My part was suggesting that the world could be different and that something kind of crazy might be possible. You all, our sponsors and the folks who lent us money and those that supported us in a hundred other ways, too -- you're the people who changed how people can look at the world and you expanded the idea of what is possible. And I would expect no less from lovers of speculative and fantastic literature.
First, you did it by being sponsors and allowing us to continue to operate. Then you proved that idea wasn't just a one-shot, flash-in-the-pan but that it was a viable idea for the long term (we have more sponsors this year than last year; the program is growing, not shrinking). Those things were the basis and foundation that gave me the confidence and hope to try what we just accomplished.
And we did this: 49 lenders in total, $1.9 million dollars, in 18 days.
Thank you all for making a dream come true and showing just how powerful a like-minded, reasonable group of people can be.
Warmest Regards,
Alan
PS There is one other group that deserves credit for what we've done -- the staff at the Bookstore and Cafe. They are so good at what they do that I hardly had to think about work for the past 18 days. Further, they are the people who truly give shape to Borderlands. I'd just be a lonely guy in a tiny bookshop without them.
More than that though -- we've shown our city, our field, and the world what is possible. A few days ago I was talking with one of our lenders in the office. He thanked me for changing the way that people look at the world and expanding what people believe is possible. I was surprised and kind of embarrassed by the sentiment. I'm not some big deal mover-and-shaker; I'm just a guy who likes to sell books.
But then I thought about it a bit and pointed out to him that I didn't do that. We all did. My part was suggesting that the world could be different and that something kind of crazy might be possible. You all, our sponsors and the folks who lent us money and those that supported us in a hundred other ways, too -- you're the people who changed how people can look at the world and you expanded the idea of what is possible. And I would expect no less from lovers of speculative and fantastic literature.
First, you did it by being sponsors and allowing us to continue to operate. Then you proved that idea wasn't just a one-shot, flash-in-the-pan but that it was a viable idea for the long term (we have more sponsors this year than last year; the program is growing, not shrinking). Those things were the basis and foundation that gave me the confidence and hope to try what we just accomplished.
And we did this: 49 lenders in total, $1.9 million dollars, in 18 days.
Thank you all for making a dream come true and showing just how powerful a like-minded, reasonable group of people can be.
Warmest Regards,
Alan
PS There is one other group that deserves credit for what we've done -- the staff at the Bookstore and Cafe. They are so good at what they do that I hardly had to think about work for the past 18 days. Further, they are the people who truly give shape to Borderlands. I'd just be a lonely guy in a tiny bookshop without them.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Building Update #8 - Right Down to the Wire
Funds on Deposit - $1,777,500 Days Left - 1
Hello,
Of course this whole thing had to end up with a photo-finish. And, of course, this couldn't end on any day other than Halloween. I mean really . . . why did any of us think otherwise?
As you can see above, we are really, truly, awful goddam close. But we're not quite there yet.
I fully expect that I'll see one or two deposits at the bank tomorrow that will take us right across the $1.8 million line. As soon as I see them, I'll let you all know.
If I don't see those deposits, don't worry. I'm not going to let a measly $22,500 stop us after we've raised so much. That figure can be covered by the deposit reserve that I have at the store. It can also probably be covered if all of us at the bookstore clean out our rainy-day reserves. There are a dozen ways we can raise that in time.
But, dammit, I really hoped to be writing a different note today.
However, see my comment above -- it kind of had to work out this way.
As a good friend often says, "Now that's out of the way, how about a bright, shiny change of topic?"
What Do We Do First?
Dan, our realtor, asked me a couple days ago, "So, once escrow is closed and Bruce has his stuff out of there, what's the first thing you're going to do?"
In reply, I asked, "Do you mean in general or with the retail space?"
He chuckled and said he was asking about the retail space.
"First off, a lotta people, a lotta beer, a lotta whisky, and probably some pizza," was my answer.
Hello,
Of course this whole thing had to end up with a photo-finish. And, of course, this couldn't end on any day other than Halloween. I mean really . . . why did any of us think otherwise?
As you can see above, we are really, truly, awful goddam close. But we're not quite there yet.
I fully expect that I'll see one or two deposits at the bank tomorrow that will take us right across the $1.8 million line. As soon as I see them, I'll let you all know.
If I don't see those deposits, don't worry. I'm not going to let a measly $22,500 stop us after we've raised so much. That figure can be covered by the deposit reserve that I have at the store. It can also probably be covered if all of us at the bookstore clean out our rainy-day reserves. There are a dozen ways we can raise that in time.
But, dammit, I really hoped to be writing a different note today.
However, see my comment above -- it kind of had to work out this way.
As a good friend often says, "Now that's out of the way, how about a bright, shiny change of topic?"
What Do We Do First?
Dan, our realtor, asked me a couple days ago, "So, once escrow is closed and Bruce has his stuff out of there, what's the first thing you're going to do?"
In reply, I asked, "Do you mean in general or with the retail space?"
He chuckled and said he was asking about the retail space.
"First off, a lotta people, a lotta beer, a lotta whisky, and probably some pizza," was my answer.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Building Update #7
Funds on Deposit - 1,692,500 Days Left - 4
Greetings and Salutations,
You may notice that I've changed the heading at the top of this note from "Funds Raised" to "Funds on Deposit". The reason for that is we're really in the final days of this gig and it's reached a point where it doesn't matter what people have promised us -- the only thing that matters, for the sake of this project, is what is in the bank come Halloween. So, rather than including what people have said they're going to do, the number at the top of this note is only what is on deposit. Don't worry though, we're not out of time by any means. Even though today was the last day that I said would work for deposits, at the time I said I was allowing for a margin of error. We've still got four days. Wire transfers and cashiers checks will still be credited in time, even if they are wired (or handed off to me, for the checks), as late as the morning of the 31st.
Now that I've gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, here's the good news -- I'm almost sure we're gonna have the money in time.
I believe we're gonna get that building.
Greetings and Salutations,
You may notice that I've changed the heading at the top of this note from "Funds Raised" to "Funds on Deposit". The reason for that is we're really in the final days of this gig and it's reached a point where it doesn't matter what people have promised us -- the only thing that matters, for the sake of this project, is what is in the bank come Halloween. So, rather than including what people have said they're going to do, the number at the top of this note is only what is on deposit. Don't worry though, we're not out of time by any means. Even though today was the last day that I said would work for deposits, at the time I said I was allowing for a margin of error. We've still got four days. Wire transfers and cashiers checks will still be credited in time, even if they are wired (or handed off to me, for the checks), as late as the morning of the 31st.
Now that I've gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, here's the good news -- I'm almost sure we're gonna have the money in time.
I believe we're gonna get that building.
Building Update #6 - Very Close
Funds Raised - $1,622,500 Days Remaining - 4
Hello All,
Are you getting nervous? I am, sort of. We're very damn close to making it. Remember, I'm aiming for $1,900,000 to allow $100,000 for closing costs, build out and repairs. We can close the deal at $1.8 million. Which is $177,500 from where we are now.
I'm talking to a couple of people who might be able to do some bigger loans but I'm not going to hear from them 'till tomorrow. Well, 'til Friday, which is technically today. If I don't hear from them then, we might be able to come to an agreement on Saturday or Sunday but the funds can't move until Monday, when we have two days left. That'll make for a nervous weekend, eh?
But, here's the thing -- even if we don't pull it off this time, there'll be another building, and we've proven that we can raise over one and a half million dollars in less than three weeks.
One. And. A. Half. Million. Dollars.
That's a hell of an accomplishment and it'll serve us well if we have to do this again.
But I'm hoping we don't need to do this again. Honestly, I feel optimistic. We've done so much in the past week and we've got a whole weekend and two days ahead of us. Plus, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves. Something that both my former profession and 20 years in this business has taught me is to have a back-up plan . . . and a back-up for that . . . and a back-up for the second back-up. Right now, we're still working on the primary plan, which is the one with the best overall outcome. But it's not the only plan.
Anyway, enough about that. Last word is this -- if you're on the fence, now's the time to decide if you want to make a loan. And, if you've talked with me about a loan and haven't finished off the deal, get in touch and let's get finished -- I'm totally fine with, "We thought about it and we decided that it's not a good idea" but, not knowing where we stand is kind of hard.
Hello All,
Are you getting nervous? I am, sort of. We're very damn close to making it. Remember, I'm aiming for $1,900,000 to allow $100,000 for closing costs, build out and repairs. We can close the deal at $1.8 million. Which is $177,500 from where we are now.
I'm talking to a couple of people who might be able to do some bigger loans but I'm not going to hear from them 'till tomorrow. Well, 'til Friday, which is technically today. If I don't hear from them then, we might be able to come to an agreement on Saturday or Sunday but the funds can't move until Monday, when we have two days left. That'll make for a nervous weekend, eh?
But, here's the thing -- even if we don't pull it off this time, there'll be another building, and we've proven that we can raise over one and a half million dollars in less than three weeks.
One. And. A. Half. Million. Dollars.
That's a hell of an accomplishment and it'll serve us well if we have to do this again.
But I'm hoping we don't need to do this again. Honestly, I feel optimistic. We've done so much in the past week and we've got a whole weekend and two days ahead of us. Plus, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves. Something that both my former profession and 20 years in this business has taught me is to have a back-up plan . . . and a back-up for that . . . and a back-up for the second back-up. Right now, we're still working on the primary plan, which is the one with the best overall outcome. But it's not the only plan.
Anyway, enough about that. Last word is this -- if you're on the fence, now's the time to decide if you want to make a loan. And, if you've talked with me about a loan and haven't finished off the deal, get in touch and let's get finished -- I'm totally fine with, "We thought about it and we decided that it's not a good idea" but, not knowing where we stand is kind of hard.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Building Update #5
Funds Raised - $1,422,500 Days Remaining - 7
Hey Everyone,
OK. Much better rested than last night but I've got to run out of here fast because I'm meant to be at Churchill pretty much . . . now.
You're all wondering about the inspections. First off, they went well. We had general building and sewer inspections plus a roofer came in to give a bid for replacing the roof (no surprise -- the roof does need to be replaced, but we expected that).
The general building inspector was the best I've ever seen. His name is James Hicks and he is one of the partners at H.R. Wellington Construction. He's been a builder for years and he's qualified to do both general and pest inspections. He's also a medic and does volunteer search and rescue work, so we hit it off like a house-a-fire.
Bottom line is that it's a 1902 building with all that goes with it. A little bit of dry rot on the siding, old breaker panels (not hard to replace and not urgent), and so forth. The only two notable things were that the framing in the basement (that I mentioned to you all before) is, in fact, a bit funkier than I thought. It looks like the job of abating dry-rot that was done is the 1970s wasn't top-notch and probably needs some fixing. On the other hand, it didn't look like anything had moved much since that job was done, so this isn't one of those situation where a wall is tilting and going to keep tilting 'til it's fixed (or falls over). But, it is a big enough thing that I think we'll be talking with the seller about a price reduction to make up for it.
The other thing that he called out was that there are some cracks in the retaining walls in the backyard. There's a big tree that belongs to one of the neighbors that is right up against the wall and may be pushing on it.
Hey Everyone,
OK. Much better rested than last night but I've got to run out of here fast because I'm meant to be at Churchill pretty much . . . now.
You're all wondering about the inspections. First off, they went well. We had general building and sewer inspections plus a roofer came in to give a bid for replacing the roof (no surprise -- the roof does need to be replaced, but we expected that).
The general building inspector was the best I've ever seen. His name is James Hicks and he is one of the partners at H.R. Wellington Construction. He's been a builder for years and he's qualified to do both general and pest inspections. He's also a medic and does volunteer search and rescue work, so we hit it off like a house-a-fire.
Bottom line is that it's a 1902 building with all that goes with it. A little bit of dry rot on the siding, old breaker panels (not hard to replace and not urgent), and so forth. The only two notable things were that the framing in the basement (that I mentioned to you all before) is, in fact, a bit funkier than I thought. It looks like the job of abating dry-rot that was done is the 1970s wasn't top-notch and probably needs some fixing. On the other hand, it didn't look like anything had moved much since that job was done, so this isn't one of those situation where a wall is tilting and going to keep tilting 'til it's fixed (or falls over). But, it is a big enough thing that I think we'll be talking with the seller about a price reduction to make up for it.
The other thing that he called out was that there are some cracks in the retaining walls in the backyard. There's a big tree that belongs to one of the neighbors that is right up against the wall and may be pushing on it.
Building Update #4
Funds Raised - $1,292,500 Days Remaining - 8
Dear Sponsors,
I was planning to give you a detailed update about the building inspections today (yesterday, actually, since it's 1:58 am), but here it is already Tuesday morning, and I've been going since 7:30 am. I gotta say, I'm pretty beat. If I try to get into specifics about the inspections, I'm going to make word-salad. The short version is that the inspections went really well; better than I could have anticipated. I'm meeting my structural engineer and contractor to get some analysis and estimates on Wednesday and . . . . I'm going to tell you about the inspections tomorrow.
It was a good weekend for fund-raising as you can see. And that's it for building news 'til I get some sleep.
But, some event reminders before I go:
Dear Sponsors,
I was planning to give you a detailed update about the building inspections today (yesterday, actually, since it's 1:58 am), but here it is already Tuesday morning, and I've been going since 7:30 am. I gotta say, I'm pretty beat. If I try to get into specifics about the inspections, I'm going to make word-salad. The short version is that the inspections went really well; better than I could have anticipated. I'm meeting my structural engineer and contractor to get some analysis and estimates on Wednesday and . . . . I'm going to tell you about the inspections tomorrow.
It was a good weekend for fund-raising as you can see. And that's it for building news 'til I get some sleep.
But, some event reminders before I go:
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Building Update #3
Funds Raised - $825,000 Days Remaining - 11
Greetings,
I've got several bits of news, but I'll lead with the most important one.
Fund Raising
As you can see, the fund raising continues, albeit at a slower pace than at the start. The slow down makes sense, actually. At first, the loans were coming from people who were ready to go and, in some cases, they were people I had talked with in advance. Now, it's people who need more time to think about it and make arrangements. But, I'm not discouraged at all. $825,000 are only the loans that I'm sure of -- either the lender has committed to making the loan or the funds are already in the bank. There are another $400,000 in loans in which I'm still working out the final details for, but that I feel pretty confident about. Finally, there are some other lenders that I still need to reach out to personally. Bottom line, we're going to be close, but I'm not sure we're going to make by relying on only larger loans.
Considering that, I think it's time to open things up for smaller amounts. My initial reason for looking for larger loans was the desire to keep the number of people involved to a minimum so that my bookkeeping work would be more manageable. Not that it would be that big a job with 300 lenders but, I may have a few other things to work on in the coming months.
If you are in a position to offer a loan between $10,000 and $75,000, I'd love to talk with you about the details. The general terms of the loan are 3% interest paid annually and the loan to be paid back in nine years (but I could potentially pay it off earlier). The loans are secured by the building so they are pretty safe (barring a huge earthquake). There is room for changes if you would like them (e.g. interest rate can be as low as 2% or as high as 4%, interest can be paid quarterly, and the term can be shorter or longer) and the amount can be anything from $10,000 and up.
In terms of transferring the funds to me, there are a couple of different deadlines, depending on how the money is coming. Remember, if I don't have confirmed funds in the bank by October 31st, I'm going to have to cancel the deal. Since that is only 11 days away, the latest that a personal check is sure to work will be noon on Monday, the 23rd (unless the check is from Bank of America; I'll explain that in a second). Any later and the funds might not be confirmed by our bank in time for the 31st. Checks from Bank of America are an exception since that's where the company accounts are located and the confirmation is instant. As a result, BofA checks could be as late as Friday, the 27th. Electronic fund transfers should be sent by Thursday, the 26th, to be safe. Cashier's checks and wire transfers can be delivered to me (in the case of cashier's checks) or sent (in the case of wire transfers) by Friday, the 27th. All those dates are erring on the safe side but that's how I'd prefer to err.
As you can see, we need to move pretty quickly if this is going to work out. I am available to meet with you anytime and anyplace in San Francisco to discuss details or to pick up checks. I'm also available anytime by phone at 415 385-5968 to answer questions or merely discuss the loan. If there is any information that will assist your decision, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll also be around the shop all day tomorrow (Saturday) if you want to drop by and chat.
One last thing -- if the deal doesn't work out for any reason, I'll be returning the loan amounts with interest to date, within a week of October 31st, two weeks at the outside.
Greetings,
I've got several bits of news, but I'll lead with the most important one.
Fund Raising
As you can see, the fund raising continues, albeit at a slower pace than at the start. The slow down makes sense, actually. At first, the loans were coming from people who were ready to go and, in some cases, they were people I had talked with in advance. Now, it's people who need more time to think about it and make arrangements. But, I'm not discouraged at all. $825,000 are only the loans that I'm sure of -- either the lender has committed to making the loan or the funds are already in the bank. There are another $400,000 in loans in which I'm still working out the final details for, but that I feel pretty confident about. Finally, there are some other lenders that I still need to reach out to personally. Bottom line, we're going to be close, but I'm not sure we're going to make by relying on only larger loans.
Considering that, I think it's time to open things up for smaller amounts. My initial reason for looking for larger loans was the desire to keep the number of people involved to a minimum so that my bookkeeping work would be more manageable. Not that it would be that big a job with 300 lenders but, I may have a few other things to work on in the coming months.
If you are in a position to offer a loan between $10,000 and $75,000, I'd love to talk with you about the details. The general terms of the loan are 3% interest paid annually and the loan to be paid back in nine years (but I could potentially pay it off earlier). The loans are secured by the building so they are pretty safe (barring a huge earthquake). There is room for changes if you would like them (e.g. interest rate can be as low as 2% or as high as 4%, interest can be paid quarterly, and the term can be shorter or longer) and the amount can be anything from $10,000 and up.
In terms of transferring the funds to me, there are a couple of different deadlines, depending on how the money is coming. Remember, if I don't have confirmed funds in the bank by October 31st, I'm going to have to cancel the deal. Since that is only 11 days away, the latest that a personal check is sure to work will be noon on Monday, the 23rd (unless the check is from Bank of America; I'll explain that in a second). Any later and the funds might not be confirmed by our bank in time for the 31st. Checks from Bank of America are an exception since that's where the company accounts are located and the confirmation is instant. As a result, BofA checks could be as late as Friday, the 27th. Electronic fund transfers should be sent by Thursday, the 26th, to be safe. Cashier's checks and wire transfers can be delivered to me (in the case of cashier's checks) or sent (in the case of wire transfers) by Friday, the 27th. All those dates are erring on the safe side but that's how I'd prefer to err.
As you can see, we need to move pretty quickly if this is going to work out. I am available to meet with you anytime and anyplace in San Francisco to discuss details or to pick up checks. I'm also available anytime by phone at 415 385-5968 to answer questions or merely discuss the loan. If there is any information that will assist your decision, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll also be around the shop all day tomorrow (Saturday) if you want to drop by and chat.
One last thing -- if the deal doesn't work out for any reason, I'll be returning the loan amounts with interest to date, within a week of October 31st, two weeks at the outside.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Building Update #2
Funds Raised - $650,000 Days Remaining - 13
Hey Folks,
On Monday I said that I'd go into the whole inspections and estimates part of the process later because it was a long post. That follows but, if you're not interested in all those details, you can skip the end of this note. But I do have some other stuff that might interest you.
First off, we're in the news again. Both Hoodline and Mission Local posted pieces about what we're doing:
Mission Local - https://missionlocal.org/2017/10/saved-by-sponsorships-borderlands-books-now-aims-to-buy-a-building/
Hoodline - http://hoodline.com/2017/10/borderlands-books-moves-to-buy-recycled-records-building
Secondly, with Jeremy's invaluable help, I've put up a section on our website about this project. There are some documents up there that give more details about the building. There's also a current picture. If you looked at the place on Google street view it was a uniform (and ugly) gray color. It's been painted since and the current picture is much more appealing. Go to https://borderlands-books.com/building/ It's password protected -- if you want access, please drop me a line. I'll be adding anything of interest, including some more pictures, up there as I get it.
Now, how about a deep dive into building inspections?
Hey Folks,
On Monday I said that I'd go into the whole inspections and estimates part of the process later because it was a long post. That follows but, if you're not interested in all those details, you can skip the end of this note. But I do have some other stuff that might interest you.
First off, we're in the news again. Both Hoodline and Mission Local posted pieces about what we're doing:
Mission Local - https://missionlocal.org/2017/10/saved-by-sponsorships-borderlands-books-now-aims-to-buy-a-building/
Hoodline - http://hoodline.com/2017/10/borderlands-books-moves-to-buy-recycled-records-building
Secondly, with Jeremy's invaluable help, I've put up a section on our website about this project. There are some documents up there that give more details about the building. There's also a current picture. If you looked at the place on Google street view it was a uniform (and ugly) gray color. It's been painted since and the current picture is much more appealing. Go to https://borderlands-books.com/building/ It's password protected -- if you want access, please drop me a line. I'll be adding anything of interest, including some more pictures, up there as I get it.
Now, how about a deep dive into building inspections?
Building Update #1
Funds Raised - $500,000 Days Remaining - 15
Hi All,
I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was, as you might expect, pretty busy. We've been selling books off-site all week at the various Litquake events around town, which . . . was some work. We did 12 off-site events in 6 days. On Friday we had three different events that we were at -- two of them at the same time. And, on Wednesday, there were two simultaneous events at the same time as the Internet Archive anniversary party. That would have been fine except Jude and I were both scheduled to work at the party. So, Z'ev sold books at one event and Maddy sold them at the other while Jude and I worked the party. I'm very glad that all the management folks at Borderlands are cross-trained to work in either the bookstore or the cafe.
But that was all just a warm-up for Saturday when we hosted two events as part of the Lit Crawl, one in the bookstore and one right afterwards in the cafe, each with four authors participating. If that wasn't enough, Z'ev and I were so busy scheduling around all the events last week, we forgot to schedule extra staff at the cafe that evening. Z'ev and Isabel did an impressive job of holding down the fort in the cafe, in spite of lines that went to the door at times.
Despite all the excitement, I managed to get a fair amount of work done on the building purchase. As of now, our funding stands at $400,000 with another $100,000 in contingent funds. I've also started several conversations that may lead to additional loans (one of them well over $100,000). I'm not exactly relaxed but things do seem to be going in a positive way.
Now seems like a good time to give an overview of what we need to get done in the next 15 days. The job falls into three parts; getting financing, setting up the legal structure, and getting inspections and estimates. The discussion about inspection and estimates is long so I'm going to save that for my next update.
Hi All,
I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was, as you might expect, pretty busy. We've been selling books off-site all week at the various Litquake events around town, which . . . was some work. We did 12 off-site events in 6 days. On Friday we had three different events that we were at -- two of them at the same time. And, on Wednesday, there were two simultaneous events at the same time as the Internet Archive anniversary party. That would have been fine except Jude and I were both scheduled to work at the party. So, Z'ev sold books at one event and Maddy sold them at the other while Jude and I worked the party. I'm very glad that all the management folks at Borderlands are cross-trained to work in either the bookstore or the cafe.
But that was all just a warm-up for Saturday when we hosted two events as part of the Lit Crawl, one in the bookstore and one right afterwards in the cafe, each with four authors participating. If that wasn't enough, Z'ev and I were so busy scheduling around all the events last week, we forgot to schedule extra staff at the cafe that evening. Z'ev and Isabel did an impressive job of holding down the fort in the cafe, in spite of lines that went to the door at times.
Despite all the excitement, I managed to get a fair amount of work done on the building purchase. As of now, our funding stands at $400,000 with another $100,000 in contingent funds. I've also started several conversations that may lead to additional loans (one of them well over $100,000). I'm not exactly relaxed but things do seem to be going in a positive way.
Now seems like a good time to give an overview of what we need to get done in the next 15 days. The job falls into three parts; getting financing, setting up the legal structure, and getting inspections and estimates. The discussion about inspection and estimates is long so I'm going to save that for my next update.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Sponsor Letter, October 13th 2017
My Dear Sponsors,
I have some very exciting news. On Monday I submitted an offer to buy the building on Haight Street that I've been talking about. And, on Wednesday morning, the offer was accepted. It's possible we're going to have a permanent home for Borderlands!
The Building
Located just a bit east of Masonic Ave, the building is a three story Victorian built in 1902. There are two large flats upstairs and a retail space on the ground floor. There is also a backyard and a full basement. It's a little bit smaller that our current spot but, by putting the office and storage in the basement and being smarter with the layout, I think we can fit all our current stock and more. Sadly, there is no room to accommodate the cafe. (Please note -- that does not mean I'm planning on closing the cafe. More on that later.)
The address of the store is 1373 Haight. If you try to look at it on Google street view, the place that pops up is actually across the street so "turn" south. Currently it's the location of Recycled Records but, when we move, we're not going to displace them. The owner of the record shop owns the building and he's planning on retiring. He'll be closing up shop and moving out shortly after the sale closes. He's still open for now so, if you'd like to take a look at the place, you can. But, if you decide to visit, please don't worry about the condition of the interior -- both the bookstore and the cafe were in much, much worse shape when we arrived. When we're done, it will be beautiful.
The Catch
Here's the catch -- I need to raise a lot of money if this is going to happen. Due to the price and having a very low down payment, the lenders that I've spoken to are not interested in financing the purchase. So, I'm going to need personal loans for a significant portion of the price. Having started on Monday to raise the money, I already have $265,000. But I need to raise . . . $1,900,000 in total.
I don't know if this is going to be possible but I believe it is worth trying. We have, including today, 19 days to get the money. After 19 days, I cannot cancel the deal without losing our deposit.
On one hand, I think it's ridiculous for me to think that achieving this is even within the realm of possibility.
On the other hand, two and a half years ago, I was just about positive that we were going to close the shop. If someone had told me what would happen when we started the sponsor program, I would have thought they were completely nuts.
I was talking with someone last night about this deal and they asked me if I was freaking out about it. I realized that I wasn't. There have been a few times in my life when it just didn't matter whether I succeeded or failed. All that mattered was that I act with a clear mind and follow the course that I had set. This is one of those times.
If we succeed, we will have removed the greatest obstacle that exists to my dream of creating a bookstore that can last and last and last. On second thought, perhaps I should say, "our dream".
You're a sponsor because you want Borderlands to continue to exist. In the 20 years that I've been in business, rent has steadily trended upwards in San Francisco. If we don't ensure the cost of our location -- we will have to close at some point. I don't know when it will be but I'm sure it will happen. Only by owning it ourselves can we rely on the physical space which we must have to exist.
The Loan
So, let's give it a try, shall we?
I'm looking for lenders who can offer loans of $100,000 or more. If you're one of those people, let me know by replying to this note or emailing me directly at abeatts@borderlands-books.com.
I'm flexible on the terms of the loan. But I do have a rough outline of what is most desirable (and, I know what's impossible). To give a decent return on a (relatively) small amount while also keeping the expense in the range that we can manage, I've been thinking of 3% interest. To allow a reasonable amount of time to get our feet under us, a term of 9 years would be nice. Paying interest-only makes the bookkeeping easy as well as suiting some other factors. But, to be absolutely clear: none of that is set, including the interest rate. I would take a lower rate and I'm willing to talk about higher rates. In short, if you would be willing to consider that loan under terms that are to be determined, please get in touch and let's discuss it. We've gotten this far by being imaginative and talking about ideas, it would be dumb to stop now.
If you would be interested in lending but have a smaller amount in mind, I appreciate that very much. For now however, I'm trying to keep the total number of loans down by asking for a higher amount. That may change as things move along.
The Last Word
I'm sure that you have a lot of questions: When would we move? How are you going to manage the upkeep? What are the apartments upstairs like? How has the process been so far? and so on. I was going to write a big, long note that would try to answer all that stuff but I decided not to do that. The important thing is to get the word out and start finding the loans.
So, instead of writing a enormous missive tonight, I'm going to spread all the info out over the next couple of weeks. I normally don't send out more than one email per month but this is a special situation. I figure you'd like to know how we're progressing so I'm going to be writing frequently until either the deal goes through or the deal dies. (If frequent emails are bugging you, please don't unsubscribe -- just drop a note to sponsors@borderlands-books asking us to stop pestering you. We'll temporarily remove you from the email list.)
The Real Last Word
If you have a personal policy of not lending money.
Or, if that sort of amount is completely out of your reach (it sure as hell would be for me, personally).
Or, if you think that what I'm doing is just a bad idea.
Or, . . . any of the thousands of reasons that you can't or won't make a loan.
Please, don't feel badly. You sponsored Borderlands. You and your compatriots are the only reason we're still around. You've already done so much for us, we feel gratitude of a magnitude that we can't express. There is no need to do more, unless you wish to and it is safe for you to do so.
Warm Regards,
Alan
I have some very exciting news. On Monday I submitted an offer to buy the building on Haight Street that I've been talking about. And, on Wednesday morning, the offer was accepted. It's possible we're going to have a permanent home for Borderlands!
The Building
Located just a bit east of Masonic Ave, the building is a three story Victorian built in 1902. There are two large flats upstairs and a retail space on the ground floor. There is also a backyard and a full basement. It's a little bit smaller that our current spot but, by putting the office and storage in the basement and being smarter with the layout, I think we can fit all our current stock and more. Sadly, there is no room to accommodate the cafe. (Please note -- that does not mean I'm planning on closing the cafe. More on that later.)
The address of the store is 1373 Haight. If you try to look at it on Google street view, the place that pops up is actually across the street so "turn" south. Currently it's the location of Recycled Records but, when we move, we're not going to displace them. The owner of the record shop owns the building and he's planning on retiring. He'll be closing up shop and moving out shortly after the sale closes. He's still open for now so, if you'd like to take a look at the place, you can. But, if you decide to visit, please don't worry about the condition of the interior -- both the bookstore and the cafe were in much, much worse shape when we arrived. When we're done, it will be beautiful.
The Catch
Here's the catch -- I need to raise a lot of money if this is going to happen. Due to the price and having a very low down payment, the lenders that I've spoken to are not interested in financing the purchase. So, I'm going to need personal loans for a significant portion of the price. Having started on Monday to raise the money, I already have $265,000. But I need to raise . . . $1,900,000 in total.
I don't know if this is going to be possible but I believe it is worth trying. We have, including today, 19 days to get the money. After 19 days, I cannot cancel the deal without losing our deposit.
On one hand, I think it's ridiculous for me to think that achieving this is even within the realm of possibility.
On the other hand, two and a half years ago, I was just about positive that we were going to close the shop. If someone had told me what would happen when we started the sponsor program, I would have thought they were completely nuts.
I was talking with someone last night about this deal and they asked me if I was freaking out about it. I realized that I wasn't. There have been a few times in my life when it just didn't matter whether I succeeded or failed. All that mattered was that I act with a clear mind and follow the course that I had set. This is one of those times.
If we succeed, we will have removed the greatest obstacle that exists to my dream of creating a bookstore that can last and last and last. On second thought, perhaps I should say, "our dream".
You're a sponsor because you want Borderlands to continue to exist. In the 20 years that I've been in business, rent has steadily trended upwards in San Francisco. If we don't ensure the cost of our location -- we will have to close at some point. I don't know when it will be but I'm sure it will happen. Only by owning it ourselves can we rely on the physical space which we must have to exist.
The Loan
So, let's give it a try, shall we?
I'm looking for lenders who can offer loans of $100,000 or more. If you're one of those people, let me know by replying to this note or emailing me directly at abeatts@borderlands-books.com.
I'm flexible on the terms of the loan. But I do have a rough outline of what is most desirable (and, I know what's impossible). To give a decent return on a (relatively) small amount while also keeping the expense in the range that we can manage, I've been thinking of 3% interest. To allow a reasonable amount of time to get our feet under us, a term of 9 years would be nice. Paying interest-only makes the bookkeeping easy as well as suiting some other factors. But, to be absolutely clear: none of that is set, including the interest rate. I would take a lower rate and I'm willing to talk about higher rates. In short, if you would be willing to consider that loan under terms that are to be determined, please get in touch and let's discuss it. We've gotten this far by being imaginative and talking about ideas, it would be dumb to stop now.
If you would be interested in lending but have a smaller amount in mind, I appreciate that very much. For now however, I'm trying to keep the total number of loans down by asking for a higher amount. That may change as things move along.
The Last Word
I'm sure that you have a lot of questions: When would we move? How are you going to manage the upkeep? What are the apartments upstairs like? How has the process been so far? and so on. I was going to write a big, long note that would try to answer all that stuff but I decided not to do that. The important thing is to get the word out and start finding the loans.
So, instead of writing a enormous missive tonight, I'm going to spread all the info out over the next couple of weeks. I normally don't send out more than one email per month but this is a special situation. I figure you'd like to know how we're progressing so I'm going to be writing frequently until either the deal goes through or the deal dies. (If frequent emails are bugging you, please don't unsubscribe -- just drop a note to sponsors@borderlands-books asking us to stop pestering you. We'll temporarily remove you from the email list.)
The Real Last Word
If you have a personal policy of not lending money.
Or, if that sort of amount is completely out of your reach (it sure as hell would be for me, personally).
Or, if you think that what I'm doing is just a bad idea.
Or, . . . any of the thousands of reasons that you can't or won't make a loan.
Please, don't feel badly. You sponsored Borderlands. You and your compatriots are the only reason we're still around. You've already done so much for us, we feel gratitude of a magnitude that we can't express. There is no need to do more, unless you wish to and it is safe for you to do so.
Warm Regards,
Alan
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