Over the past few months, many have shown their support of a bid by Michael Combs and Jesse Cartwright, owners of East Nashville indie record store The Groove, to buy the Calvin Avenue property that’s home to their shop. In a post on the store’s Instagram account Wednesday, Combs and Cartwright announce that their plan was unsuccessful.
According to the post, money donated to the GoFundMe campaign launched in November will be returned. Combs and Cartwright say they currently have no plans to close the store or to move it, either.
They were informed by their landlord that the building would be put up for sale and they had first right of refusal. Jan. 31 was the deadline to put in an offer, and the goal of the crowdfunding campaign was set at $500,000. More than $25,700 was donated to the campaign, and other benefit events were held, including a raffle for an exquisitely detailed model of the building by Devin Drake. Proceeds from those other fundraisers aren’t reflected in the GoFundMe total, but it seems that not enough was ultimately collected to make the deal. Reached by the Scene, Combs and Cartwright note that financing to make the purchase wasn't approved in time.
Once the property sells, Combs and Cartwright will have to negotiate a lease with their new landlord (once the current term is up) or find somewhere else to set up shop. Regardless of how things turn out, the owners express gratitude for the outpouring of support in their statement. Read the full text of the post below.
Hello, All. We wanted to thank you all for the amazing outpouring of support and love during these last few months. As you know, we were trying to secure funding to buy our building here on Calvin Ave. Unfortunately, we were not successful in our bid. Currently, there are no plans to move or close the store. Any donations made to our GoFundMe will be refunded.
Again, we can’t thank you all enough for the love and support. We will continue to provide a welcoming place where “Music is for everyone.” as long as Nashville will have us.
#supportyourlocalrecordstore #musicisforeveryone #musicwillgetusthroughthis #lgbtqownedbusiness
D. Patrick Rodgers contributed additional reporting to this story.
