Casita Bookstore in Long Beach, Calif., has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help stay afloat as it moves to a new location.
The campaign, launched six days ago, is looking to raise $12,000 and has already raised more than $7,000. Money raised will go toward paying store employees during the transition; paying off debts the store incurred over the past six months; covering moving costs; and giving the store some breathing room as it reopens and rebuilds.
In an Instagram video discussing the crowdfunding campaign, store owner Antonette Franceschi-Chavez said the store "took a huge blow" in 2025, with sales dropping by about 20%. The financial situation was bad enough that Franceschi-Chavez was left with two choices: close the store or move, and she has chosen to move the bookstore to a smaller space.
That new space, she explained, has been created by her husband walling off a section of the barbershop he owns in Long Beach, and Franceschi-Chavez believes it will be more financially sustainable going forward.
"We have a fighting chance to move our bookstore, stay here in Long Beach, and try to give it a second chance," Franceschi-Chavez said.
Casita Bookstore focuses primarily on children's books featuring BIPOC voices, with titles available in both Spanish and English. Franceschi-Chavez opened the store three years ago.