The July issue [PDF] of WW’s neighborhood newspaper, The Northwest Examiner, has the story of one business owner hit particularly hard by the recession pummeling NW 23rd Avenue.
Folks who frequent the Northwest shopping hub know that Twenty-third Avenue Books closed suddenly in January. What they might not know is that the bookstore owner, Stephanie Griffin, became homeless after the store closed.
Startled neighbors discovered this in June, according to the article by Mike Ryerson on page 30 of the Examiner’s July issue. Griffin had started panhandling outside her old store, which was still empty at the time. (As of this week, it’s a lunch spot specializing in what one might call hand-held pot pies.)
Anyway, let’s get to the good news first. Even before the story about Griffin appeared in the paper this month, neighbors had gotten together to get Griffin’s cellphone reconnected — she owed $400 to the phone company. And they helped her find a place to live temporarily, so she could stop couch surfing and carry on with the job searching.
I met with Griffin at Anna Bannana’s Tuesday afternoon to talk about the book store she’d owned for three years and the response she got from passersby who saw her sign (pictured above) accusing Bush of causing the recession. One man told Griffin not to blame someone else for her failures. The driver of the UPS truck who used to deliver books to the store was more sympathetic. His jaw dropped when he saw Griffin on the sidewalk, she says. He then stopped his truck so they could talk. “Most people would ignore me and then say ‘Oh, the bookstore used to be there,’” Griffin said. “I would say ‘I used to own that store,’ and they would keep walking.”
Since losing her business, Griffin (who was an accountant before she took over Twenty-third Avenue Books) has sent out 77 job applications and had two interviews, she says. Her dream job, she says, would be to work in the payroll department at Powell’s Books. You hear that, Powell’s?
For Griffin, there was no single “oh shit” moment, no terrible epiphany when she realized she would have to close the store. It was more like a series of “oh shit” moments. She continued to get behind on rent. Then she had to fire her small staff. She worked by herself for several days, hoping Christmas 2008 might provide a boost. Then she realized, “I can’t do this myself and I can’t pay anybody else.”
Griffin, who’s 50, has food stamps to help her get by, she says. But food stamps can’t pay for things like soap or toothpaste, so neighbors have set up a fund to help Griffin get back on her feet. Donations can be made to Stephanie Griffin Fund, c/o Glenda Magistrale, Consolidated Federal Credit Union, 2021 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR 97232.
Photo courtesy Mike Ryerson.
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Tags: economy
Rural Oregon went through this when the people shopping on 23rd thought it far more important that they have logging free, field burning free, places to visit. The mills closed, the loggers found other jobs, and the store fronts became empty, and long time and new business folded alike. And you know what? Those store fronts, those towns, have never recovered. PIcking mushrooms and ferns just didn’t fill the void. And people moved to find work, and kids left school, and nobody in Portland gave a shit. The lady needs to move to someplace she can work. She does not have a mortgage, equity in a home, kids in school, a lifetime in the same neighborhood. Welcome to the rural Oregon world handed them by the green set on 23rd. and liberal weird Portland. Pay backs are a bitch. Karma is a bitch. What goes around, comes around. Your turn. Enjoy!
This store had been in business for years and years. Certainly, Bush ignored the reality of the economic status of the US. On the other hand, small bookstores are struggling everywhere.
Was there a business plan? Was there a reserve of cash to carry the store through the hard times or was every penny they had sunk into the store? Why was the store being sold in the first place? How successful was it before it was sold?
How about a something more than a pity party and do a real dissection of how this and many other businesses on NW 23rd have failed or are failing.
NW 23rd is full of boutiques that fare well in a good economy when Portlanders have money to spend, but when times get tough, they aren’t shelling out good money for dayglo dream catchers and “Keep Portland Weird” bumper stickers.
I don’t think I’ve seen either of those things for sale on 23rd since Music Millennium closed.
Proving the point.
Retailers selling other than the basic goods needed for everyday life need to be prepared for the down turn.
Right now if people don’t actually need an item they don’t buy it. Books are out libraries are in. Newspapers are out online newspapers are in.
NW 23rd specialized in the area of want, not in the area of need.
It’s all Bush’s fault? How about the Portland City Council or the County Commissioners, or Governor Kulo? They have a great deal more impact on the local economy than George Bush did.
those pot pies are friggin delicious.
Somehow I think all of you would be a little bit more compassionate if you weren’t hiding behind your screens and keyboards. What would your grandmothers think about these comments?
Did you know that Powell’s was *just* hiring for its payroll department?
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/job.pl
I wonder if Griffin applied? If not, she should submit a late application with this story as her excuse! How could they turn her down??
Yes, I applied for the Powell’s job on June 30. Haven’t heard back from them…
Good luck with the Powell’s application, Stephanie–and good luck to Powells and every other bookstore in these tough times.
I don’t know anything about NW 23rd, I’m Canadian, but I do love Portland and have enjoyed myself there–yes, shopping!–on several occasions.
Good call, Zach. Could there be anything more pernicious than a halfwit hurling jibes at a former bookstore owner from behind the cozy anonymity of a screen name? (While it’s biologically improbable, my guess is that these invertebrates have egg-white in their veins.)
The best of luck to you, Stephanie.
Thanks, Bart!
I worked for 20 + years at used and rare bookstore in Michigan, until last Nov. I know what this feels like- thankfully I still have my home, but it can be a devastating thing- I did not own the store I worked at but was attempting to purchase it unfortunately the owner wanted to go in another direction and I was swiftly without a job- the bookstore was an anchor to the community for me. I am still grieving mentally, but i have moved on and started my own business, and it’s hard, trying to find work in a county with almost 20% unemployment. I wish her well. But the reality is that things like this are happening all over the country in the bookstore industry.
[...] you can try. And then, she suddenly closed the store in January. In an excellent story, the Willamette Week Online describes Ms. Griffin’s [...]
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Most people don’t realize exactly how hard business owners work or how many sacrifices they make for others. Maybe the snarky comments you are getting are from people who have employers paying for unemployment insurance when they lose their jobs. However, those same small business owners who paid these monies have nothing from the government when they lose their businesses, yet they were the ones paying into the system forever. I know business owners who were trying to keep others employed so they could feed their families, and not be laid off, using their own savings. Others lost it because a large customer bankrupted, taking them with them. Yet, when they lay off to survive themselves financially, they’re demonized. Again, I’m sorry for your situation and I hope you too can land a cushy job working for someone else who pays into unemployment insurance so that when they lose their business because they are taxed to death or someone bankrupts on them, you can still get paid. I don’t know what to think about this system we have in the U.S.A.
Blaming Bush? What a liberal loser. I have no sympathy for people like her. None!
There is only one person who she can blame and that is herself. She ran the business and she made the decisions that ultimately drove her to failure.
There is no excuse today to not doing something that you absolutely love and make a lot of money doing it. Everyone has an equal chance at success, especially in this global, internet-driven economy.
Maybe if she would get off her fat butt and actually apply some of the remaining business skills she may still have left, she could bounce back. Meanwhile, she chooses to sit there, being lazy, crying the blues, pointing the blame at everyone but herself, and trying to make a liberal political situation out of it. That is sad.
I hope you figure something out, Stephanie! Poor woman. I’m not in the bookstore biz, but we are a small, owner run and operated business, and times are hard. There’s only two of us now, and we’re barely making it by. I know what it feels like to see the bills come in, and no customers.
No Sympathy says:
July 11, 2009 at 6:45 am
Blaming Bush? What a liberal loser. I have no sympathy for people like her. None!
There is only one person who she can blame and that is herself. She ran the business and she made the decisions that ultimately drove her to failure.
There is no excuse today to not doing something that you absolutely love and make a lot of money doing it. Everyone has an equal chance at success, especially in this global, internet-driven economy.
Maybe if she would get off her fat butt and actually apply some of the remaining business skills she may still have left, she could bounce back. Meanwhile, she chooses to sit there, being lazy, crying the blues, pointing the blame at everyone but herself, and trying to make a liberal political situation out of it. That is sad.
DEAR NO: DEAD ON POST!
Blaming others, especially government, is soooo easy. And what cheek to ask others for money when she could be earning it herself (even if it takes two minimum-wage jobs). I will NOT help such a person. She needs to stand up and do something for herself. That’s what I did when I had rough times. I didn’t ask for freebies from hard workers.
jeeze – if anyone who has ever couch-surfed is considered “homeless,” then I guess I have been too (also why the numbers that get quoted are so inflated), although I didn’t go around crying about it, or sitting on the sidewalk blaming a politician – I made a new plan and got busy. She’s got skills, friends helping her out. She’s waaaay better off than 90% of the world population Sounds like a crazy little thing called, aaaaa…. “life” to me. IMO Stories like this are one of the reasons newspapers are dieing a slow and agonizing death.
Books have become a commodity and are being displaced by pixels. Amazon is the Walmart of the book trade and have done more damage than B&N, Borders et al combined. Try selling your books or CDs on Amazon these days and you will be crushed by mega-sellers with auto-repricing software and cozy relationships with Amazon. Bush did a huge amount of damage to this country, we’ll never see the end of it. I has just opened a small CD and zine shop in Kingston, NY when 9-11 hit. I was out of business within 3 months: total desertion of the town and a paranoid mentality that lasted for years. Now we are dealing with the implosion of the bubble that he inflated with his war and his tax cuts as well as gutting financial regulations (Clinton started this so he’s not off the hook). This country is OVER, it will never get better. Best to accept this and become more attuned to your non-materialistic side. In the end, we will survive and hopefully the scum who put us in this bind will become the next wave of homeless. But I doubt that.
No Sympathy should look around for a reality check. Look! The New World Order has an agenda in mind, and it is going to be fruitful. Ms. Stephanie Griffin doesn’t look like a lazy person. As a matter of fact, I purchased a few books in her cozy bookstore, and may I reiterate that she was working behind the counter! This sad event could happen to anyone these days, so please be kinder! Oh, by the way No Sympathy, why don’t you watch Life Stinks by and with Mel Brooks. In order to do that, you have to know how to think!
Good luck Stephanie. I miss your bookstore and your presence.
“Thanks, Bush.” HA! I love how it’s Bush’s fault.
My book shop will probably not make it through 2010. Thanks, Obama!
NW 23rd needs a shake-up. I live on 23rd and Hoyt. Anyone can see that the only businesses up there remaining steady are the one’s with corporate backing.. Starbucks, Subway, Gap, etc. What the recession has improved on 23rd is the customer service. I hope Escape from NY pizza takes a dive. Bad product, bad service, all scene, and no substance. People that go there aren’t into good food, they’re into scenes. Ooops…I’m posting this in Willamette Week.
I emailed Stephanie months before she closed her shop and offered to
buy the business If she ever considered selling, she returned my email saying she wasn’t really interested. Less than two months later she closed her doors-what a shame, I would have offered her at least what she had into it!
I wish her luck,
Adele
[...] comes their way) to ask for money from strangers who may be facing similarly horrible problems, like this woman? (Pictured on [...]