Small businesses across America are in peril as the economic impact of the COVID-19 shutdowns start to take effect, and Amoeba Music — part of the long-imperiled cohort of record stores — is sending out a plea for help. The independent music retailer has outlived such massive music enterprises as Tower and Sam Goody, but as its owners say in their new GoFundMe page, “We have weathered many storms — 911, recessions, the Internet, downloading and streaming. But we don’t know that we can weather the COVID-19 storm.” Amoeba has three locations across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the original Berkeley, California, storefront, and co-founders Dave Prinz and Marc Weinstein are trying to raise $400,000 to stay alive through community donations.

“We know that this is a very difficult and uncertain time for everyone, and we understand that there are many individuals and organizations in need,” reads the campaign page. “Any donation to this campaign will contribute to the cash resources we need to deal with the immediate future, to take care of our staff of over 400 Amoebites, and to allow Amoeba to continue operations.” Additionally, they say that the company has applied for bailout loans, but with those funds running out quickly due to high demand from so many struggling businesses, they can’t rely on state or federal support to pull through.

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