Meat certainly isn’t the only progressive pet food supply store in town, and it probably isn’t the first to emphasize a raw meat diet for your critters either, but it was Meat’s Heidi Liedeker who has shaped my approach to cat nutrition. I love and trust her store so much that even though it no longer makes geographical sense, I still travel halfway across town to stock up. And while I can find a similar range of products elsewhere, Meat’s always had a slightly more punk/hipster/whatever vibe than more yuppified establishments I can think of, and has continually demonstrated support and generosity for like minded causes, from pit bull defense to the Pogo Fund.
Meat’s now going into its third expansion, and have what seems like a distinctly unplanned-for Indiegogo campaign up to help fill an unanticipated gap in their funding after having exhausted the banks and personal loan options. The video is distinctly no-frills, consisting mostly of lo-fi footage of Liedeker explaining the history of her business and its current situation while fighting back tears. They’re a long way from reaching the 60k goal: With four days left they’ve raised $15,740 (though they get to keep whatever they do make). I have a feeling a lot of people who patronize her store might not be aware of what they’re facing—I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with less than three other customers inside, usually with dogs in tow. I know Liedeker would respond with sympathy and generosity to any one of her customers (furry or otherwise) in crisis, so if you have any connection to her or her store, you might want to hear her out:
I don’t know I understand “We’re doing so well that we need to double our space, but can you give us $60k to do that please?”, but I am glad to know what’s going on with that old NW Uniforms building across the way, and I wish her good luck!
It sounds like “I have completely miscalculated the real cost of this, and I’m now also completely committed by contract to seeing this through.”
It’s not that abnormal or blameworthy, and best of luck to her in raising the cash. This is certainly preferable to fundraisers that are basically “we are going bankrupt if you don’t give us money.”
Yeah, I think it’s a case of construction costs for the new building ending up more expensive than the estimates … and since construction has started, Meat would have a hard time backing out. Sure, they likely could have found another large existing space elsewhere in Portland, but this choice keeps them in the neighborhood where they’ve built their clientele for the past several years. (I live nearby. A few years ago I had a stretch of about 18 months after my last cat died and new cats were acquired, so I didn’t shop there then. When I finally returned, they said, “You’re back!”) I will support this.