GRAND RAPIDS — Starting a business and getting it off the ground can be a challenge. Local business owners of an adult dance studio in Grand Rapids are celebrating their first anniversary and fighting to stay open.
Midwest Movement Collective celebrated its first anniversary Monday the 12th of bringing intentionally inclusive affordable forms of dance, yoga and silk classes for adults to the community, but now they are in need of help.
Last week the studio was issued a notice from their landlord giving them until this Wednesday the 14th to raise over $15,000 from overdue rent in order to keep the doors open on Lenoard and Monroe. Owners Hannah Mico and Paige Gabert say how in this day and age it is not only expensive to open a business but to sustain it as well.
"Folk's recreational budgets are not large, and we are dominantly a recreational space, you know, folks are choosing to do this as a hobby, or as an activity that brings them joy. It's not categorized in the same way that you categorize your groceries or your utilities in your household budget and with inflation being so high, we cannot blame folks," said Hannah Mico, Co-owner.
"We want to get together and just come up with a plan to make sure that this does not happen again, obviously, because it's very stressful, and just not a great place to be. But we're really optimistic that we can make some changes that help," said Paige Gabert, co-owner.
This team has been invested from the start to bring a welcoming dance community for all adults to West Michigan and is now committed to staying open.
If you would like to help Midwest Movement Collective you can donate to their fundraiser here and find out more about them on their Facebook page here.
