Bruce's Journal - Part 4

Monday, June 5 [at 10 AM]
Finally, after much preparation, painting, polishing, etc., on we opened our doors once again to the public. This time, however, we didn't have to rely on books alone to carry the load. The store area consists basically of three rooms. The front room is health foods, the rear room is a nice, quiet book-room, and the middle room is a bit of both.
Business has been consistently slow. Our average sales have been only about $2000 per month, hardly enough to classify it as a success. However, by cutting corners, luxuries and my own hair we have been able to survive with only a slight increase in indebtedness.
I just learned this morning that the man next door, McWhat Antiques, who opened a few weeks before we did, is now selling out. He says that for the past four months he hadn't made anything on the store. It's so sad. He always took such care with his window, kept it cheerful and friendly, and constantly answered my queries with "Things are going just great." This morning Bob was almost in tears.... [This building, attached to mine and a mirror image of it, then became the national headquarters for Guru Maharaji's Divine Light Mission. It is where The Living Seed now resides.]

St John's Tide, Thursday, June 27, 1974: On Thursday June 6 Eric Foskett called me to ask if I would be interested in buying his business, Goldberry's Health Foods. I had been up half the previous night worrying and praying for a way to continue with the mission of the books and still send enough money to Buffalo to help support Bruce and Valerie. My payments to date have been sparse and scattered. Eric's call seemed a godsend. By selling the Living Seed I would be able to pay him the required $10,000 down and, on a month-by month basis I would probably be able to pay him $500 a month until the remaining $18,000 was paid up.
Goldberry's, at 14 Wellesley St. W., is doing a business [according to Eric's verbal account] between two and three times greater than the Living Seed. The profit is good and there are still some rooms to rent to our friends.
When Rolf Zimmerman returned from Europe on Monday he heard about our prospective move and called me Tuesday Eve to discuss it. He does not approve of the move and said that if I sell out he will ask for an immediate repayment of the loan and consignment....a figure near $2500 dollars. Shock number two came yesterday morning when I took Shivram (a Sri Chinmoy disciple) to Jack Altman's to negotiate a lease. [At this point I don=t remember exactly why I went with Shivram. You can see why it's important to keep a journal!] Altman said he was raising the rent to $750 per month! He also indicated that I would have to pay that when, in October, I renew my option. This blow will obviously make the selling of this business considerably more difficult.
While discussing these problems with Randy Marks he indicated that [a] $2500 loan could be transferred to him thereby getting out from any obligation to Rolf. I'm checking with my lawyer this morning to see if I will have to pay the increase and/or if Shivram will be able to sublet from me. Another interested party is Anne Burton who, through many years of pure water campaigning, has earned the sobriquet of "Fluoride Annie."