Hello! My name is Alexandra and I am writing this today as I need your help to help close down my family's business; this journey sadly has to come to an end due to never-before seen circumstances.

I would love to be able to start this funding by asking for your help to continue running our business, but as of current times, that is simply impossible.

My family's bookstore, Syntagma, has existed for 20 years, and it was my father's dream to create a place where both adults and children can find relief from the outside world, with caring employees, rare books, exceptional books and an over-all cosy atmosphere.

For some time, it worked wonderfully. From 2000 to 2012, my father ran a small bookstore that gained many loyal customers thanks to its amazing service and dedicated employees. 

My mother and father attending a book launch in the bookstore's first location, 2005

However, in 2012, the small complex that the bookstore was located in was scheduled for renovation, which was going to last for 8-12 months, meaning that unless the bookstore relocated, the business wouldn't run for almost a year, which we couldn't afford since we had no other source of income. The only option available was a risk that my parents had to take, which involved moving to a new location in a different part of the city.

They invested a large sum of money, in order to keep the bookstore afloat.

The view from outside on the bookstore's second location, 2012

Unfortunately, that was one of the worst decisions possible, as we would soon find out. My parents decided on a larger space than previous, wishing to bring more products and make it a more beautiful bookstore. However, things did not go as planned, because after we went through a 60% rent increase, unfortunately our sales tanked by up to 70%. Within half a year, my family was close to being bankrupt, being forced into a bank loan of $20.000 in order to simply move out from that location.

Meanwhile almost a year had passed, so the small complex that the bookstore was originally located in opened after renovation. Having no means of gaining the money they owed + what they had to pay for the bank loan, my parents had to take another chance at reopening the bookstore in its original location, but this time on the 2nd floor of the complex, in a pretty tiny space.

The bookstore's third location, 2013

From that point, things never really went back to normal. Most customers did not come back because they disliked the renovation of the complex in its entirety, with its moved shops and others gone for good, while other customers were never able to spend enough time in the complex as to reach our bookstore. 

This was happening in 2013; coincidentially, that was when the online market really took off in my country, and most products that you would find in our bookstore you could find online for much, much cheaper. I have to mention we always sold products at the recommended prices by our suppliers, but online markets were not bound by those rules and could sell products as cheap as they wanted.

Moving on, I finished high-school in 2014 and started working at the bookstore shortly after, at the beginning of 2015 as my parents needed all the help they could get in running the bookstore. At this point, we were left with only 2 employees, down from 7, therefor the work force was quite limited. We couldn't spare any funds to start an online website to reach more people.

However, things were finally starting to look up when the owner of the complex saw our potential (and was probably yearning for some of the previously loyal clientele to return). With some help we redesigned the bookstore and moved to a larger space, on the same floor, but in a much, much more beautiful setting.

Slowly, we were gaining more customers, and previous customers were beginning to return, and sales were finally consistent enough throughout the year. We were surely not getting rich, but it was enough to get by and my father could start paying off some debt that had accumulated over the years. To put things in perspective, we were $50.000 in debt in 2013. By the end of 2019, over the course of 6 years, my father had managed to pay $20.000 of that debt.

The bookstore's fourth and current location, 2020

You may ask how, since the business was not spectacular, just sufficient. All in all, my family had been unable to afford a getaway in 7 years, not only because of the cost, but the time required to run the bookstore, we were barely able to eat out for celebrations (usually twice a year for some birthdays) and to top it all off my father drove a car that barely runs anymore, in the most vivid way possible (it's still so old that it’s virtually impossible to get the approval required to drive it legally without extensive maintenance). My father cut most ties with his friends since he was embarrassed he couldn't go out with them, or buy them gifts for their birthdays. That kind of money adds up after all.

That leaves us with a $30.000 debt, which considering the bookstore was doing better and better since 2018, could've been covered. All it took was around 5 more years, and it would have all be solved through sheer hard work and dedication, just 5 more years of the thing that was already going on for 7 years, less than half. And both my parents were more than ready to hunker down and pull through, and I was willing to support them until they were safe. 

Sadly, 2020 had different plans for us. On March 23rd we were forced to close down since our country went on a state of emergency due to COVID-19 and we were closed until May 17, almost two months. When we found out we could return to work, we were all incredibly happy and looking forward to seeing our customers, some of them already close friends at this point.

That was the day we received a bill of $2.700 for the store's maintenance, for the time we were closed. We were never warned we would have to pay this bill, otherwise I would be writing this much sooner. 

I must mention these 2 months were excruciating for me and my family. Neither of us had an income and my father had to pawn some gold coins he had as an inheritance from his grandfather, whom he was extremely close to during his lifetime, only for us to be able to afford food and living.

To make matters worse, the bookstore has been open for a week and our sales never exceeded 30% of the daily sum needed to pay for employee salaries and rent. 

So, the decision was a very hard but clear one; we have to close down as daily sales at this point aren't enough to even pay salaries, let alone the $4.000 monthly rent. 

With the current circumstances it is impossible for one to believe any clientele, who is also in distress from this pandemic will have books and leisure activities on their minds. Nobody is really visiting the complex at all, and probably will not be as everyone has much bigger priorities during these next few crucial months.

Today, May 25th, my father had a talk with the owner of the complex to explain the situation and ask for his understanding in closing down, since we already had so much to pay him, that sum would only grow by approximately $4.000 every month, which at this point even through bankruptcy we would NOT be able to pay him. Long story short, he knows these are difficult times for everyone but he can't do anything. Even if we close down within a month, we will be paying full rent for every single day of functioning while also finding a way to give him the $6.500 we already owe him.

Furthermore, he more or less threatened to close down the bookstore and prevent us from functioning unless we find a way to pay him at least $5.000 until May 31st. The sad part is he can legally do that since we do owe him that money.

This only adds up to the approximately $30.000 we already owe our providers, which we would have been able to pay off in a steady 5 years if things had kept on their track; sadly, things did change, and in a way I never imagined possible in such a short amount of time.

Unless we can find a way to pay the $30.000 upon closing the business, my family could face lawsuits from up to 6 providers. 

Today I am writing this as a last resort. It was exceedingly difficult for me and I had a hard time choosing the right words, but I can only hope that I managed to get my message through. I really wish I would never have had to resort to this, at all.

It was a simple wish, it was never supposed to be a business my parents could get rich by, just their dream as a young couple, to have a cosy family bookstore, one where people could indulge in their reading choices, and find a cosy place to feel… well.. at home. I wish there were any other way, if there was, I would not be forced to write this. 

Thank you so much for getting through with my story.

You can find the bookstore's Facebook page here.