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Chris Doeblin, the owner of Book Culture, which has four stores in New York City, now says he may close the stores by the end of summer if he doesn't have enough money to pay vendors and stock shelves, according to the Columbia Spectator, the student newspaper at Columbia University, near two Book Culture stores.
In an open letter last week, Doeblin had said Book Culture needs financial support, pressured by the increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour from $10 an hour in the past three years, which boosted payroll 50% in 30 months. He said the store needs at least $500,000 in loans, which he wants to be guaranteed by the city government.
Book Culture has been aided, Doeblin told the Spectator, by "generous landlords," including Columbia University, which lowered rents for the Book Culture store at 114th St. and Broadway.
Since he issued the open letter, Doeblin has met with New York State Senator Michael Gianaris and plans to meet with members of the Committee on Small Businesses of City Council to secure funding and bring attention to the plight of local businesses in the city, he told the Spectator.
Doeblin added: "If there's one last service we can provide to the community, it's to make City Hall and the government aware that we need to do things differently. We can't continue to do nothing about Amazon and Walmart and the huge mega companies of the world and expect a future where small businesses like Book Culture exist."