we received a big bowl of sour lemons this week. I put together a series of posts for instagram and i’m going to share the transcription here. but long story short, the company we have had our store setup for the past three has closed it’s doors without any warning. we are essentially starting over. it has been a whirlwind of a week and i’m still processing everything.
but here is the story I shared on instagram. if you prefer to see it post/picture form, you can here.
Our story…
i started folk & fable co. almost five years ago as a branding & graphic design firm. I love making graphics but I didn’t really love the branding side. when i started writing, i pretty much shelved the company. that is until my mom and i had an idea…
She was moving into a new phase of her life and wanted to find a way to make money by selling her vintage items. I thought it would be fun to do this together and mix in our love of books.
Using my old business name we got to work. We started an etsy shop first. It was a great way to get our name out there and start funding this new dream.
Then one day we were out thrifting for new items to sell and found the painted tree. we knew as soon as we walked in the door that it would be the perfect place for us to start expanding and growing.
After a few months we knew we had a good thing going on.
For the last three years we have built our business little by little. It started out as something fun for us to do together but quickly became something that my family depended on.
when my husband lost his job two years ago, it was because of folk & FABLE CO. that we made it through that hard season.
and now it’s gone.
The painted tree announced on tuesday that they are closing every store (over 50). We likely won’t see any of the money we made this month (in the thousands) and all of our security deposits and rent for the rest of the month is also gone.
but money is money.
what hurts the most is all the hard work that we put into growing our store front. we didn’t neglect online sales but we prioritized the people who shopped with us daily.
WHAT’s NEXT:
We are starting this month behind the 8-ball. i don’t want to sound dramatic but everything we had is basically gone.
the income we were depending on to live and pay our bills is no longer there except for the online orders and pop-ups we have planned.
we are essentially building from scratch. i’m trying to not think about it too much and just keep moving otherwise I would probably spend my days crying.
we are still figuring out what our next move is but I can promise you that we are still here. we want to keep helping you find new authors to love.
right now we are focusing on getting organized behind the scenes, finding new locations that will fit our brand, and moving more items online.
we were already planning monthly “Drops” that would be limited stock and first come first serve as well as monthly (no commitment) blind date boxes.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
the fact that so many of you are reaching out and asking how you can help means so much to us. you have no idea.
SHARE our posts, tag us when people ask for bookstores, tell your friends about us, etc… word of mouth will always be helpful.
if you are local to NC and know of an event, a business that allows pop-ups, or any other shared market space, please dm or tag us and let us know.
READ MY BOOKS.
if you didn’t know, i’m an author and i have a college sports romance series available on kindle unlimited, audio, and paperback.
if my books have been on your tbr, now would be a great time to read them especially if you have kindle unlimited.
SHARE MY BOOKS.
if you don’t have the time read my books or maybe you don’t even want to, sharing them would also be appreciated.
facebook groups, social media, etc.. basically anywhere. having my books read on kindle unlimited (or purchased) is my main source of income now and all it takes is one post to make a huge difference. a reader talking about my books could potentially be life changing. and to be vulnerable… i could really use that right now.
and of course the best way to help is to shop with us. think of our store when you make your book purchases.
THANK YOU!
THE LAST THING I WANT TO SAY IS THANK YOU. WHAT STARTED AS SOMETHING FUN FOR ME AND MY MOM TO DO TOGETHER HAS TURNED INTO SOMETHING BEYOND MY DREAMS.
THAT’S BECAUSE OF ALL OF YOU.
IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU WE GET TO HELP OTHER AUTHOR’S DREAMS COME TRUE. IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU WE GET TALK BOOKS ALL DAY. IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU I GET TO WORK FOR MYSELF AND SUPPORT MY FAMILY AND I WILL NEVER NOT BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
Stay tuned as we start the next chapter of folk & Fable co.
Leave a Reply