To the Island Books community —
We are truly grateful and humbled by the outpouring of support our community has always shown to Island Books but especially over the last few weeks. Your support of Island Books not only supports a Mercer Island institution but also supports 6 employees and provides health insurance for some of those employees (which is obviously important in these times).
We live in scary and uncertain times. Nobody knows what the next few weeks and months will bring. Our thoughts are with our most vulnerable family members, customers, supporters, and residents. It appears that the COVID-19 crisis will not only bring a health crisis to our community, but it may also bring an unprecedented economic crisis as well.
Island Books not only needs your support to survive but we also need a strong small business ecosystem around us as well. So, in addition to supporting Island Books, we humbly ask that you support the businesses in our Town Center and on the south end shopping center. Yes, you might pay a little more than you would online or with a national chain but we ask that you view that extra cost as an investment in your community. We guarantee that the national chains and online retailers will still be there once this crisis has passed (and it’s important to keep in mind that it will pass) – we promise. Without your support, small businesses may not be there in the future.
We want to guarantee that our island has a thriving small business community once this has passed because it makes Mercer Island a better place to live. These businesses also employ people who are part of our local economy (and also spend money at other small businesses like Island Books). So we suggest the following: