No Time to Ruminate Says Ruminator Books

On Monday, December 1, Ruminator Books in St. Paul, Minnesota, sent an e-mail to its listserve offering shares of common stock for public sale at one dollar each, with a minimum investment of $250. This offer is available only to residents of Minnesota. The 33-year-old bookstore hopes to raise between $450,000 and $1 million to offset its growing financial woes, and the outcome of the stock sale will likely determine Ruminator's survival. In an e-mail sent on Tuesday, December 2, Ruminator informed subscribers that "by the end of January, Ruminator Books and its community will either have raised the funds to make the bookstore well stocked and vital, or it will close."

Asked by BTW to speculate about the response to Ruminator's public offering, owner David Unowsky said, "I expect we will have a future here. I can tell you that." But he also made it clear that if a sufficient amount of money is not raised soon, the store will be forced to close.

Unowsky talked about other bookstores that have been in peril and their success in recovering, "When other bookstores … like Cover to Cover in San Francisco, were in trouble, it was the customers who raised the money. The bookstores made it clear that if they didn't have X amount of money, they were out of business. I'm not sure if we can make that clear, but we're trying to make sure that people understand that it's the case for us.

"Another thing is that the stock can only be sold to Minnesota residents. People in the book industry, authors, etcetera, are calling from all over asking how they can participate. If they're interested, they can call. There are ways they can [help] even if they're not buying stock."

The bookstore also recently held an auction of donated author paraphernalia to keep the store afloat. (To read more about the auction, click here.)

Ruminator Books has asked anyone interested in helping save the store to call (651) 699-0587. --Karen Schechner