Nagu on laialt teada, Toronto Eesti Majal on olnud aastaid rahalised raskused. Me oleme oma operatsioone läbi vaadanud ja oleme otsustanud, et Eesti Maja ei suuda jätkuvalt toetada eStore’i ning on tarvis see sulgeda.
See otsus on olnud raske ja me oleme selle otsuse vastu võtnud pärast pikemat kaalumist. EStore on pakkunud meie ühiskonnale võimalusi osta raamatuid, ehteid, kinke ja muid eestipäraseid materjale, kuid üle aja ühiskonna toetus ja regulaarne kasutus on langenud.
Eesti Maja võttis üle eStore-i aastal 2012 ja sellest ajast saadik poe puhaskasum on olnud $2,200 - mis on palju vähem kui need kümned tuhanded dollarid, mida oleks teenitud selle ruumi valja üürimisest. Aastal 2017, müügikäive oli 83% väiksem kui aastal 2014.
Saades aru et poe finantstulemused tõenaoliselt ei muutu paremaks tulevikus, eriti eeloleva Eesti Maja katuse parandamise ajal ja eeldatavalt aeglasemal suveperioodil, on juhatus jõudnud järelduseni, et praegu on õige aeg see otsus vastu võtta.
Eesti Maja tänab siiralt Ingrid Sepp Jaenest, kes on endast kõik andnud viimastel aastatel, üritades teha eStore-i majanduslikult elujõuliseks, nähes palju vaeva ja veetes palju tunde, otsides loovaid lahendusi selle nimel.
Edaspidiselt Eesti Maja juhatus kaalub erinaveid variante selle ruumi kasutamiseks ning olemasoleva inventariga tegelemiseks.
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Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
Vollies for the estore!19 Apr 2018 10:08
That is a great idea, it was sad that the 2018 budget was approved without reconsideration or a real serious exchange on how to make it happen and keep the Estore open.
Many charity shops are staffed by rotating volunteers. Part of why Estore does not make that much money could be that it is not open during all business hours. We have many retirees in our community who could be interested in doing this so it could be open more often.
If it is not feasible to keep it in the front, why not just move it to another room?
Or how about re-working the model so that it is in the kohvik area, and coffee could be available to enhance the social-ness. Having a full-scale restaurant might be too difficult to maintain but surely we could have a coffee spot. Plus, if we can't make a coffee spot work in the original Esto House, why would we think we could have a viable coffee spot in the new one where there would be even higher rent!
great idea17 Apr 2018 23:35
A specialty bookstore-gift shop and music café - even a garden café. Just what the Avenue wants and needs more of, and Ingrid Jaenes is well qualified and congenial. A generational opportunity. Lead the way.
Ingrid Tanner17 Apr 2018 22:27
Well, I think that Ingrid Sepp jaenes was more of a volunteer... and a great advocate for the Estonian House and the community. I frequently witnessed her discuss wtih Estonians from Eesti or from the USA about the Estonian House and our community. She would get a copy of a few cookbooks from Eesti and would then ask a relative to ship the books to her after she had commitment from interested Perchasers. because no one contributed to the operations. When the Koffic closed, senior had a place to sit and chat or read ... or meet up with a friend. This is really a short sighted decision of the board. Especically, since no outside person will rent this space due to the costs needed to upgrade the heating and get running water in the space. This feels like our Estonian House Board is not interested in keeping what at times would be called the "info keskus". Where Ingrid would help Estos and non estos about Estonia AND the Estonian Community in Toronto and abroad. She was dedicated to our community here and abroad
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