Thursday, October 8, 7-8:15 PM: Public Meeting to Talk about How to Buy the Tsunami Property

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There will be a Public Meeting at Tsunami Books, Thursday, October 8, from 7-8 (or possibly later) to see if there are people who want to play with ideas, and perhaps help in various ways, to purchase the Tsunami property from the present owners.

A little history: Three years ago a friend of Tsunami Books offered to buy the building, to help Tsunami with its long-term rent and occupancy issues. That individual was not interested in owning the building, only in being the initiator of change. The plan was to get our rent down immediately (from $8000), meanwhile helping to set up a new ownership structure, most likely non-profit, for the building. The current building owners were amenable. The money was needed within a tight time-frame, and the action could not be completed.   Cut to Saturday, February 26, 2026. A war broke out, initiated by the U.S. The first thing we heard at work was that a girls’s grade school in Iran was bombed, killing up to 168 people. Tsunami had to do something. Within three days Tsunami announced its intention to buy the property as an effective community action, a means of securing the home front, dedicating our efforts to the girls. A peace dividend, with a binding covenant to keep the property in Books and Music, Local Arts and Crafts, and Community, in perpetuity. The building owners were contacted, and amenable. A maximum price was mentioned. $200,000 was needed in escrow to prove our intent. At half down, a contract for deed would be drawn-up. Tsunami went to work raising money in our spare time. We quickly raised over $100k, and have been slow and steady since.

——————————- We here at Tsunami are not attached to any of the three possible (general) ways we think Tsunami can be purchased:

1) Raising the money as we are, Tsunami, predominantly a worker-owner business, owning the property outright;

2) Forming a small, purpose-driven llc, of which Tsunami would be an owner;

3) Or, by forming a new non-profit that would raise the funds, and rent to Tsunami, collaborating with our arts programs where applicable.

Are there other ways to do it?

We believe that #1 is to get the building, asap. Changing the legal structures can happen after the fact. Your ideas are appreciated.

FYI, in 2017, when we learned we had to raise $300,000+ for escrow to continue renting, a meeting was called for December 28. 70 people showed. A committee of very interested folks was formed. Their direction was invaluable. And here we are, 9 years years into it, doing a little better every year, with good reason to continue to grow.

Fyi, the Bookstore has been doing what we consider to be quite well for the past year. We are on track to gross close to a million dollars—not including the fundraising—in 2026.

Thanks for reading this.