Dear Friend of Sacks Thrift Shoppe:

 

Thank you to everyone for the incredible outpouring of support our team has received as we navigate the difficult challenge of launching a new nonprofit and reopening the thrift store at 128 Liberty Street. And a very special appreciation to all of you who made a financial pledge to help fund the various start-up costs of that process, which we were just beginning to incur. We have not and will not be requesting pledged be paid.
 

Unfortunately, after much consideration and careful analysis of the timing we face, we have concluded that it will not be possible to accomplish our goals and we are forced to abandon our efforts now before we start incurring significant costs beyond the personal funds we have spent so far. As much as we care about Sacks, we care even more about the community of supporters and have no desire to collect on pledges in a risky or irresponsible manner. 
 

Key to our decision is the unusual amount of time it now takes to receive nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service which, like many federal government institutions in recent months, has experienced cutbacks in staffing. Without a clear 501(C)3 designation, it is difficult to collect funds, open bank accounts and enter into legal agreements such as leases and insurance policies. We are not able or willing as individuals to take on these legal obligations while we wait for nonprofit status. We have spoken to other charities about partnerships, but those too have limits.
 

There are many other factors as well, and they all have to do with poor timing and are sadly out of our control.  The landlord has been cooperative and encouraging, but also made it clear the clock will not stop for us and that other parties are interested in the space, which puts additional pressure on our timeline and resources. The closure of Sacks was very sudden and there simply is not enough time to responsibly recover from that poor decision.
 

We know people will be disappointed and it was extremely difficult to come to this conclusion. But we also realized along the way that the energy, goodwill and compassion that the staff, volunteers and customers of Sacks exhibited over the years is something to be celebrated and that it will continue in other ways throughout the community as it grows and changes.
 

Thank you very much for your encouragement and support, and we sincerely hope the legacy of Sacks continues to define what makes Petaluma a special place.
 

On behalf of everyone involved in trying to save Sacks, we remain,

Respectfully yours,
 

Gene Gable and Ann Deadman
 

For an additional perspective on this development, please see an article that appeared today at Petaluma Voice, a new independent journalism platform covering our community: https://www.petalumavoice.org/sacks-closed-for-good/