SUPPORT

Hello angels! <3 We are so grateful you are here. 

We took the leap to start this dream in October 2020. We’ve spent almost 2  years since then digging in our heels to make it a reality and keep the vision alive. If you’re not up to date, our building of 701 Haywood Rd was put up for sale in the fall of 2023 and was sold for 2.3 million dollars in March of this year. Since it was listed as fully rented, we had a glimmer of hope that we would be able to extend our lease after the sale, but the building sold, in turn putting our lease in jeopardy. After a few conversations with the new buyers, it was decided they would not be renewing our lease along with a few other tenants in the building with our last day being April 30th, 2024. 

Obviously we were devastated at this news for many reasons. We have put so much love and care into doing our best to create a space loved by many. We have witnessed so many magical moments in the space from clown shows, fundraisers, dance parties, mechanical bulls, drag shows, workshops, movement classes, dinner, love ceremonies… It’s an overwhelming testimony to the importance of spaces like this here in Asheville. We love this city and this community and deeply want to continue to explore and support the arts through the diverse eyes of creativity. 

This has been one of the most challenging, and extremely rewarding, experiences: being able to follow a dream and see it come to fruition. It has come with many trials, as the reality of a small business can be a lot to navigate. To be honest, before this journey it felt easy to speak on how I thought other people should do business, but now that we are doing it… go and hug your friend who runs a small business lol 

Anyways, to get to the point we have always known our business would function with a mixture of bar revenue, grants, and community fundraising. So now that we are about to lose a major part of bar revenue, we need to ask for support. We have lots of events on our active calendar and we are planning a special pop series while we wait to receive timelines on a new home. We are planning fundraisers, talking with our fiscal sponsor @eaglemarketstreets, and applying for grants to start saving up for our new buildout, but those things take time so we need y’alls help. 

We are looking at a steep bill to even move out due to settling up overhead, payroll, moving and storage costs. Additionally, we have to pay $225 every additional day of May that it takes us to move our entire space…we have a lot of stuff.  We know 30k seems like a lot because it is to most of us living paycheck to paycheck but in the business world it’s just a snippet of what it takes to make the magic happen. It’s actually insane how expensive it is to make a business function & move at the same time so every bit of support goes a long way.

We know this idea is a little wild and that operating a successful business with community as the priority over profit is easier said than done. We know that as BIPOC, queer, and femme biz owners, the deck is stacked against us. Despite a long road and many unexpected hurdles, we’ve still made it this far because of YOU. It’s a scary place to be in. It’s not our first choice to be out here again, PBS telethon style, reminding you for the fifty millionth time that this station is funded by viewers like you. But, we’re stubborn as hell and won’t let this dream die. 

Every dollar we spend has been carefully considered to make sure it’s directed toward building a foundation of community support that comes back to you tenfold. We’ve raised more money than any of us has ever had in our bank accounts before. Our crew is doing this as a labor of love because we believe this will truly help support our community and the parts of this city that we want to keep alive. 

We want to personally give a little forehead kiss to every single one of you that takes the time to read this.

If you want to keep up with our pop up series “HOUSE HUNTING” this summer, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Instagram 🙂

xo the different wrld crew