10/18/2024
Like most Asheville small businesses, right now Static Age Records and Loft are facing an uncertain future.
After Hurricane Helene left, we were lucky to find that our downtown spaces were dry, and our neighbors were alright as well. Also, as luck would have it, our local WiFi provider Skyrunner came back quickly, as did our power. We opened our doors to the community as a power and WiFi hub, with free hot food and resource sharing. The outpour of volunteer support to keep our spaces open and to aid the devastated region has been inspiring.
This business has always been pretty DIY, with walls moved, built, and rebuilt, using and reusing recycled material all while hosting thousands of bands from all over the world. Financially, we keep things afloat and have created jobs in the process. Improvements made possible by COVID relief loans have resulted in a lot of growth as a venue, retail space, and facilitated an expansion next door with a bar and kitchen. At the point when the storm hit, we had just paid off the patio permit and big chunks of our loans, which left us in a particularly vulnerable place to be without income for the better part of a month.
As we transition out of utilizing our space for mutual aid resource connection and supply distribution, we face financial realities that are not ideal. Our lost revenue at two businesses has left us in a state where we cannot afford rent for much longer, neither can we afford the payroll costs to rehire staff.
At this stage of Helene recovery, we are reaching out for community aid to help us reach the goal of $85,000. This amount will allow us to pay rent and bills, return to our regular hours at both spaces, continue our food program, as well as rehire and pay lost wages to our staff.
We believe in the healing power of music and with this aid, we can move forward to keep our doors open, bring quality entertainment to our community, and as we will continue to use our space for benefit shows that help fund numerous local, regional, and global aid efforts.
We appreciate all the volunteer and financial support we have received, past, present, and future! Together we can rebuild, recover, and restore.
