Greenlight Bookstore | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 26-3542874
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Length of Operation: 11plus
Number of Employees: 26-50 Employees
Annual Gross Income: $1M to $10M
Annual Gross Expense: $1M to $10M
Open to Loans: NO
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Funding Usage
We would use any available funds to 1) pay down debt, 2) pay staff, and 3) pay vendors. We have applied for the ERC credit but since our claim may take up to 12 months to process we need to manage our cash flow and debt repayments quickly in order to continue to pay staff and vendors.
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Business Plan
In the short term, we plan to make needed adjustments to our staffing, inventory, and other expenses, while continuing to pursue sales opportunities including offsite event sales, book subscription sales, business-to-business sales, and hosting ticketed events. In the longer term, Greenlight will continue to examine its business model and invest in community partnerships to create longterm sustainability in the potentially volatile retail industry. This includes creating an advisory board of local figures and experts to guide the store's growth; working with local venues and institutions for cross-promotion and sales opportunities; and participation in the book industry nationwide via involvement with the American Booksellers Association. (Greenlight's owner serves on the ABA board, and staff regularly participate in ABA professional education.) Greenlight Bookstore is a community business in the truest sense: our initial funding came from community lenders, and we have been a staple in the lives of our neighborhood families for nearly 15 years. While the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic did much to change our business model -- including pivoting to ecommerce sales and then back to in-person again, increasing staff wages significantly, and encountering shifting consumer buying patterns -- the core business remains strong, and only minor adjustments are needed to right-size and stabilize the company's financial standing.
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Self Identified Competition
1) Amazon.com -- while it controls much of the market share in the book industry, Amazon cannot effectively compete with Greenlight in our demographic of thoughtful consumers looking for a human-scale experience, live events, and an ethical business model that prioritizes accountability and sustainability. 2) Other local bookstores -- while Brooklyn has many independent bookstores, each serves a specific neighborhood and/or niche; Greenlight is one of the few which pulls customers from across the entire New York City area for our well-publicized author events and programming as well as serving its local community. 3) Target and other large retailers -- while books are offered at mega-retailers in Brooklyn and beyond, customers come to Greenlight for its high-quality customer service, programming and curation, which cannot be replicated by these retailers. Greenlight is among the leading independent booksellers in the country in terms of hosting author tours, exemplifying community partnerships, championing forward-thinking business practices, and participating in vital industry conversations.
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Contact Applicant
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