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Help Park Slope’s Cog & Pearl recover from a fire

cog & pearl
Cog & Pearl, in better days. via Facebook

Considering that we exist on the internet, we can’t possibly imagine the work and the effort and the agitation that goes into opening an actual, physical store that sells tangible objects. Yet that’s what the owners of Cog & Pearl, purveyors of cool things from our 25 under $25 gift guide, have been doing since 2002, even in the era of Amazon and massive chain growth in Brooklyn. Or they had managed to stay open for twelve years, up until a fire devastated the store earlier this month. So, they’re asking Brooklyn to lend a hand if they can and donate to recovery fund they’ve set up so that they can rebuild.

Cog & Pearl’s owner, Kristin, explained that the store has been laid to waste by a freak electrical fire that started while the store was closed. The fire resulted in the loss of 90 percent of the store’s merchandise, not to mention most of the store’s fixtures and most of the physical space itself. You can see most of the wreckage on the Fundly page, but here’s an example:

cog & pearl

Kristin and her husband Seth are trying to raise $35,000 to offset what they predict will be a $100,000 loss, so if you can spare them a few books, definitely help out this store that’s always been a place to get artist and locally-made goods. Or, if you’ve got a rich eccentric uncle, see if he doesn’t want to open his checkbook. That’s how it works in the movies anyway.

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