Who thought this was a good idea?

It was me, Mo Karnage. I think my mom read ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ to me too many times as a kid. What started out as me seeking out a space to rent to store materials and equipment and have a little office in Richmond for my construction company, Karnage Construction, became, well this. A whole different thing entirely.

The space my friend had available to rent is awesome, but clearly too large for what I needed for the construction business (I have a shop where I live where we do the loud and messy industrial stuff). Obviously if there is extra space there should be a radical bookstore. I have a ridiculous book addiction and large personal collection, and love weird radical feminist queer bookstores and infoshops, and have visited many over the years. And independent bookstores have a hard time making ends meet in this world, so clearly you need to add in a coffee shop. I actually opened and managed a coffee shop from the construction stage through menu development and hiring and management for a church about 6 years back, so it makes sense in my brain. You know but what if that’s not enough income to sustain the space? Then obviously we develop a mutually beneficial way to get more local queer businesses in the space, making money, being promoted, and generally building ties between people.

So yea, instead of renting a lil spot to make my construction company operations more streamlined, I have uh, created a whole other business to develop and design and sustain. Plus I get to/have to finish the actual construction of the space. But it will work probably mostly because of all of the awesome people I know in Richmond who are excited and talented and willing to lend me some energy when needed.

Also, maybe a few dollars, if you want. I am also open to getting a few dollars from folks to make this happen. The current budget I have for this project is all social capital baby. And my ability to build and design and work my butt off to make things happen. Ultimately, I am open to the possibility of an investor or investors, or business partners, or donations. I am definitely trying to keep costs low by using salvaged materials, donated dishware and furniture, etc. I am creative and have a lot of cool creative friends. It is better to keep overhead costs as low as possible to get this thing going in a sustainable way.

By Any Beans Necessary Vision Statement:

An office/home base for Karnage Construction, a queer and nonbinary owned Class A Licensed contractor.

A bookstore with an emphasis on queer and radical books (and kiddo books)

A coffee shop providing living wage jobs and sourcing from local businesses and queer and bipoc owned businesses as much as possible.

An all ages space, where kids and folks in recovery and everyone else can be comfortable.

A safe space for queer youth and adults.

A showcase for local queer makers and small business owners, who will be able to rent display space in the store for a lower effort way to sell their items and build their businesses than having to appear at a pop up market. 

A place of connection.

What it will have:

A selection of new and used books for sale. Not just queer and radical, include random others, local authors, banned books featured section, plenty of kids books.

Along with kids books- maybe some educational type kids toys for sale, definitely coloring books.

Not sure we can practically do a big kids section like Perk has, but I think an area that can maybe have a big floor rug and a whole bunch of pillows and cushions and some containers of kiddo toys might be super popular

Need to check with landlord and city, but along front yard, possibly install a long wooden bench with a tall back, sort of separating the apartment sidewalk from our front area, and then making it easier to have outdoor front seating, some small tables we could build, and then chairs to go across from bench to utilize outside space.

Several table height areas for displaying retail items from local queer makers, 2 tier, dividing into 2 3 foot wide by 2 foot deep sections on each side and 1 4 foot wide by 2 foot deep section on each end, Divided with lil plywood walls maybe, which will feature a lil ta da! about that maker/business with their info and photo or logo and business links. (might just be more bookshelves).

Side flex space/ conference room approx 8’11”x16’9” with large industrial door to close it off from rest of space. Likely to want to use it for some storage- but should be in nice cabinets or something similar so the space can still be used by Karnage Construction for client meetings, for possibly renting out for private meetings for others, for herbal consultations, for small maker workshops or even maker space when someone needs a bigger table or area to work, or wants to work publicly to show process. 

Currently envisioning the coffee bar area to be on the left side, 30 ft back from the front of the building. Exact layout TBD.

Gallery space  – Come up with a plan to feature artists in the space- maybe side by side youth, other queer youth, neighborhood kids, and also I guess grownups.

Events- free public events from book signings and readings, to kids storytime, to workshops to movie screenings. Ok with some having a cost but wanting to keep things accessible.

What the space needs to open:

Rough list of supplies needed:

Bookshelves

sheetrock

primer paint

glitter

polyeurethane

ceramic tiles

tile board

tile mastic

grout

bathroom sinks (2)

bathroom toilets (2)

36″ wide doors (3)

Baseboard trim – 150 linear feet

Shoe molding (pvc) – 150 linear feet

sheetrock mud

cute light fixtures – 15-20

sheetrock screws

framing material – 40 2x4x8

ice machine

epoxy resin for counter and table finishing

slop sink

cash register drawer setup

POS system and corresponding tablet or computer

desks (2-4)

1/2″ maple plywood (10 sheets)

cute mirrors for bathrooms

wall tile for bathrooms

bar stools (8?)

Dining room style tables to paint? (2-4)

Velveteen couches? (2-4)

Cute Chairs? (10-20)

Coffee Tables (4)

Side tables (4)

Cushions or window seats

Area rugs of weirdness (kids corner?) 

Counter/Bar thingy for cashier (Mo going to make it)

Espresso machine

espresso cups and saucers and tamper and steaming cups and thermometers

Coffee Bar

Coffee pots

Coffee grinder

Coffee mugs

Sink for handwashing

3 compartment sink

Freezers, many freezers, or at least 1 to start, 2 ideal

Fridge for at least creamers milks etc hummus CC

Panini press?

toaster

Instapot – soup?? 

Serving utensils

Sugar canisters

Cambros with lids

cups

spoons

water dispenser

plates

knives

forks

bowls

Disposable supplies needed:

Coffee cups and lids

Cold cups and lids

Plates

Bowls

To go containers

Spewns

No fucks given

Kneeefs