Iconic Williamsburg Bookstore Spoonbill & Sugartown Faces Ruin Due to Virus Shutdown

A fixture on Bedford Avenue for more than 20 years, iconic Williamsburg bookstore Spoonbill & Sugartown is in danger of going out of business due the coronavirus shutdown. They specialize in arts-related books but carry everything, including used books and zines.

On April 13, they put up a GoFundMe page. As of this writing, they’ve raised $35,254 of their $150,000 goal.

They are selling online and have applied for small business loans, “but it won’t be enough, and it will be too late,” owners Miles Bellamy and Jonas Kyle wrote on GoFundMe. “Your‌ ‌contribution‌ ‌will‌ ‌keep‌ ‌us‌ ‌from‌ ‌closing‌ ‌by‌ ‌providing‌ ‌the‌ ‌cash-flow‌ ‌to‌ ‌maintain‌ ‌operations‌‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌shutdown‌ ‌(rent,‌ ‌insurance,‌ ‌utilities)‌,‌‌ ‌to‌ ‌hire‌ ‌back‌ ‌our‌ ‌employees‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌to‌ ‌make‌ ‌our‌ ‌reopening‌ ‌a ‌victory.‌‌”

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Bellamy said in a video on the the GoFundMe page. “We’ll see you on the other side. This bookstore is going to stay open.”

We hope so. We’ve already lost so many unique Brooklyn businesses since 2012, and it would be another terrible loss if they shutter.

Update: Author Jonathan Lethem has recorded a plea on video urging people to save Spoonbill & Sugartown. “Save the room with books in it where we can all go and share. Save the commons,” he said. To view it, click here.

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