Greenlight Bookstore To Fund New Flatbush Avenue Location Through Community Lenders

Greenlight Bookstore, the favorite Fort Greene independent bookstore, announced back in November that they were planning to open a second location along Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, where one of the owners, Rebecca Fitting, lives.

Now they have announced that they are planning to help fund the new shop with the support of the community. They’ve created a Community Lenders program to raise capital to build the new store, a system they also used to open their original Fort Greene location.

As part of the program, they are asking community members who are interested to loan $1000 or more to the construction of the new store. Greenlight will repay all of the loans, with interest, over a period of five years starting one year after the new store opens. Those who participate will also receive a 30 percent “employee” discount during the life of their loan, as well as other perks. The deadline for becoming a Community Lender is June 1, 2016.

Owners Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo say they’ll need about $200,000 from a variety of sources in order to open the new bookstore.

In an email about the program, Jessica and Rebecca write,

While we expect to give our lenders a good return on their investment, making money isn’t the only benefit to becoming a Community Lender. Lenders can also feel satisfied that they have a part in bringing something good and tangible to the neighborhood of Prospect Lefferts Gardens. An independent bookstore is a community gathering place, a resource for readers and writers of all kinds, a place to encounter literature and ideas as well as conversations with neighbors. And it’s a benefit to the local economy: studies show that independent businesses recirculate 3 to 4 times as much revenue into the local economy as national chains.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Greenlight Community Lender, you can email jessica@greenlightbookstore.com. The store is expected to open late summer or early fall of 2016.