Firestorm Books & Coffee facts for kids

Firestorm Books & Coffee is a special place in Asheville, North Carolina. It's a business that is owned and run by its workers. This means the people who work there also make all the decisions together. They focus on helping their community, not just making a lot of money.

This unique spot is named after a powerful natural event, a "firestorm." It acts as an infoshop, which is a place where you can find books and information, especially about social issues. It's also a busy community event space. Firestorm often hosts fun events like movie nights, talks about important topics, music performances, and workshops for everyone. It first opened its doors in May 2008.

History of Firestorm Books & Coffee

In May 2010, Firestorm Books & Coffee was recognized for its unique business approach. The Slow Money Alliance named it one of the best "Slow Money Businesses" in America. This award highlights businesses that focus on local economies and community well-being.

Later, in December 2011, Firestorm was featured by Zagat. This well-known publisher listed Firestorm as one of the "10 Coolest Independent Coffee Shops Across the US." This showed how popular and special the place was.

In January 2014, the Firestorm team decided to move. They closed their downtown location and searched for a new spot in West Asheville. Firestorm was closed for a while, from March 2014 until July 2015. In July 2015, they officially opened their new space on Haywood Road in West Asheville. They kept the name Firestorm Books & Coffee to show their expanded focus on being a bookstore.

Over the years, Firestorm has welcomed many interesting speakers. These guests have included famous economist Thomas Greco and activist educator Bill Ayers. They also hosted gay activist Wayne Besen and environmental scholar Kirkpatrick Sale. The Beehive Collective and feminist organizer Jenny Brown have also spoken there.

How Firestorm Books & Coffee Works

Firestorm is owned and run by a group called the Firestorm Collective. This group works together like a team. They use a special way of making choices called consensus decision-making. This means everyone agrees on a decision before it is made.

They also use something called "job complexes." This helps them share all the work and responsibilities fairly among everyone. Because Firestorm focuses on helping the community, they do not try to make a profit. Instead, any extra money they earn goes back into the community.