Fundraiser for Bloom's General Store Set for Sunday

The only fundraising that makes sense is to shop there and buy stuff. If the store doesn’t sell what people want or the prices are not competitive, then sorry, but it should go out of business.

Fundraisers only delay the innevitable.

i want to live in tornadoes28’s world, where businesses never need start-up capital, or capital to finance rebuilding the business after the death of its owner.

Jim

Start-up capital? Really? Obviously not applicable to this. Fundraisers for start-up capital? That’s a new one.

Unfortunate the owner died. Still, if the business was doing well even with his death, you wouldn’t need a fundraiser.

Real World.

Plus, what is the fundraiser ‘start-up capital” going to be used for.

Expand the store? Open another branch? Advertising? Paying off debt?

If the store was successful before Bloom died and the fundraiser is to pay of some sort of debt, then that actually would make sense.

If the store was struggling to pay rent and compete, then what? Are there going to be monthly fundraisers?

Ah, the wonderful world of Chicago school capitalism….

where the market is the only thing worth valuing, and sentiment is for suckers…

and Scrooge and Ralph Nicklby were sorely misunderstood men of business.

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses.

i love tornadoes28’s world. a business owner can die, and then someone will swoop in with no loss of business momentum. there won’t be any sort of problem when a son tries to step in and run the business, finds he’s not up to the task, and then brings in someone new to run the store. the business, the perfect machine, will just keep chugging along. perhaps the general stores in tornadoes28’s world don’t sell perishable goods, and distributors are perfectly happy to extend the same credit to new owners as long-term owners.

if, in that world, the state also doesn’t take months to process partnership filings, i’m in. that would be so much better.

Still didn’t answer my question. You just keep repeating something about tornadoes world. I’ll ask again.

Will you have to keep having periodic “fundraisers” to help Bloom’s store?

Stop repeating things like tornadoes world or Chicago capitalism or whatever. All I ask is what is this single fundraiser going to do if the store is struggling. Just answer the question rather than avoiding it with tornadoes world lines.

Obiviously, you have not been down here long enough to get it and if you have - you missed the point.

Nobody would be down here any more if it was not for Bloom and his store being a vital part. So everyone complaining and whining and having something to say: I can only say this: put your action where your mouth is at and get off your selfish ass and do something for your community where and when it counts.

Why is it when I question the usefullness of a fundraiser and just ask what the plan is I am accused of living in some weird tornadoes world or not understanding who bloom was etc.

It has nothing to do with bloom or whether I know the store. Simply asking how a fundraiser will help OVER THE LONG TERM.

Please stop responding with comments that make me look like I am attacking the store or I live in some bizarro world.

If anything, my questions are more constructive for the Bloom General store.

I’ve been here in DT LA for 8 years so I’m not an idiot about the place.

well said Ed! thank you.

see eds comment paragraph 1

I remember seeing him walk his pooch at midnight when he lived on Mateo, way before he got the store in motion.

Thank you Ed. Your first paragraph was the first comment that actually just answered my question somewhat.

I’m a little disturbed by the tenor of this discussion. All Tornado is doing here is asking, dispassionately, is holding a fundraiser really a good idea? Indeed, she is questioning whether or not Bloom’s General Store is a viable business? Can it survive without charity from the community? It is afterall a business. If it can’t make a profit, why shouldn’t it fail like most businesses do? Frankly, I agree with her. If this place can’t get a business loan like the rest of the business world, that is probably telling.

My sense is Bloom’s General Store opened at a time when there weren’t a lot of retail options for downtown residents, particularly those in the Art’s District. When Bloom’s opened, downtown was a retail wasteland. But, that has clearly changed. Downtown residents have lots of retail options. I agree with her. The prospects for Bloom’s success as a profit-making business seem distinctly remote. We could be wrong. Ultimately, yes, the market will decide. Those are just the economic facts of life. Arguing this point is like arguing against gravity.

That said, Tornado is not questioning the historic importance of the place in the development of downtown. Clearly, downtown owes a debt to Joel Bloom and his efforts, including his store. Clearly, the place was the hub of the community and holds a lot of valuable historic memory. The question should really be: how to honor this history and the memory of Bloom’s.

Here’s an idea. How about turning Bloom’s into a museum? It could be become a repository of the history of the Art’s District. Too much of that history is already gone. Remember Al’s Bar? (Tip or Die.) As economic activity accelerates in the area, only more of that history and memory will be wiped out. If this were done right, I bet the Bloom’s could attract a real flow of visitors and, more importantly, really capture the history and memory it embodies in a viable way. So, what do you Bloomers say?

What I’ve found disturbing about this conversation is the presumption of the Bloomers – that unless you’ve lived here long enough and are a true believer in the legacy, then your opinions don’t have to be evaluated on their merits. This is patently unreasonable and unfair and foolish. The Bloomers here have allowed their emotion to blind them to the dispassionate observations of their neighbors. This loyalty to Joel is a decent and honorable sentiment based upon love. But, they do a disservice to his memory. Frankly, I find the tone of his defenders to be bullying and uncivil. Tornado is challenging their assumptions and they retort with insults and emotion. Bloom’s defenders can do better and they should.

Thank you.

Also, tornadoes28 is a he.

I’m looking forward to the fundraiser on Sunday. I am somewhat new to living downtown (moved downtown Oct 2006)and since I’ve gotten more active and involved with downtown happenings this past year, I have been hearing stories about Joel Bloom and his role in the community. Some funny anecdotes and a lot of serious community activism. Despite being downtown, I never had an opportunity to meet the guy, but I wish I had. He seemed like such a character and a real pioneer of downtown, but especially the Arts District. There’s a couple dozen people like Joel who made their claim downtown. perhaps longer… People like this need to be given thanks for being part of the community and an active asset.

I think that is what folks are trying to do in the Arts District. Logistically speaking (and maybe that’s all that matters to some folks I dunno), everyone needs a neighborhood market. Not everyone has a car, and for many in the Arts District Blooms General Store is that Market. Maybe Ralphs is an option for some, but having Blooms run the way it used to is something that I think people who depend on that Market can get behind. I’ve shopped there now & again, and heck I’d like to see it fully stocked and serving the community,too. That it can be a functioning legacy to the man that did so much for the Art District I think is a plus.

Available to all Arts District entrepreneurs, free of charge… http://ltsc.org/whatwedo/cedprograms/smallbusiness.html

…even Jonathan Jerald! (j/k JJ)

Hope to stop by Sunday night to honor the man.