FARGO — Citing “the most difficult year of our 14 years in business,” Ferguson Books owner Dane Ferguson is asking customers for help paying off invoices owed to his primary book vendor by the end of the month.
In a Facebook message and email to customers Wednesday, Nov. 13, Ferguson explained that not staying current with this vendor will limit his ability “to bring fresh stories and titles to shelves.”
Ferguson recently
moved the bookstore from West Fargo’s Pioneer Place to 214 Roberts Alley
in downtown Fargo. He said the move has limited his cash flow, citing extra labor costs and lost revenue from the store’s temporary closure.
Furthermore, he explained that he used to work with two main book distributors when he started out, but one has since gone out of business and the other, Ingram, is now cracking down on getting immediate payment.
“We’re at that point where we need to pay off our invoices completely in order to get new stock,” Ferguson said.
So, he’s asking his customers to consider buying $100 gift cards to “invest in your future reading while directly supporting our ability to continue stocking the books you love.”
Ferguson said he needs to sell 100 of these $100 gift cards by the end of the month. While it may sound like a tall order, Ferguson said he’s already a quarter of the way to reaching his goal.
“People came out of the woodwork, from our old customers — some from even up in the Grand Forks and Grafton area — to folks that are new to us, too. We’re pumped that we’re a quarter of the goal in and it hasn’t been 24 hours,” Ferguson said Thursday afternoon, Nov. 14. “We thought this would be a great approach. It’s honest. It’s heartfelt. We’re going to keep chugging along no matter what happens.”
Ferguson is also optimistic about his new home in downtown Fargo.
“A week ago Monday was one of the best Mondays we ever had. It was just by chance. People walking by and people going to restaurants in the evening, and stopping by and making purchases,” he said. “That’s where we really needed to make up ground was during the week. We’re a seven-day store and traffic during the week sometimes was really difficult over in West Fargo, so that’s one thing that we really appreciate.”
Angie Wieck is the business editor for The Forum. Email her at awieck@forumcomm.com
