Sixteen-year-old Bluestockings Bookstore and Activist Center on New York City’s Lower East Side, one of the few remaining feminist bookstores in the U.S.,has run into a financial crunch. Although it re-upped its lease for another five years earlier this summer, it is at a higher rent and the store has been forced to turn to a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for $50,000 to pay for needed repairs to remain viable.
“For the past several years, Bluestockings has only brought in enough money to cover the cost of keeping our doors open. In fact, no one at Bluestockings is even compensated for their work—our team of over 80 people donate their time and energy to make Bluestockings run,” the store notes on its Indiegogo site. The money is needed to remodel the storefront, including rewire the electrical system; update computers, software, and sound equipment; and to expand inventory. With 54 days left in the campaign, the store has raised just over $2,500.
