White rabbit raleigh closed

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Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time. Gay and lesbian bookstore White Rabbit closed its Raleigh location today. They moved the Raleigh location from Martin St. The store, which sells books, CDs and DVDs, gifts, clothing and other items, has had a presence in the state since , when former owner John Neal opened its first location in Greensboro in The downtown Raleigh location opened on Martin St.

We do have our Charlotte store and hopefully that one will survive. Rainbow flags wave outside Videri Chocolate Factory. A rainbow mural reading "All are welcome" invites visitors driving into downtown. This was done partially to protect the identities of those who literally risked being fired from their jobs — or worse — and partially because the general public didn't want to see. In Raleigh, the 'edge of the city' translated to the Warehouse District — although there were some friendly spaces near Five Points as well.

The Mouse Trap dates back to the mids, but the original opening date isn't clear. They tried to remain private. In fact, some recall a time when gay and lesbian bars were so deeply underground that, aside from blacked out windows, they would hang a single bare light bulb in their front door to indicate they were a safe space.

Much of the communication in those days was underground. With no internet and no safe way to openly discuss community issues, things like message boards, publications and even secret codes became vitally important. Message boards would have been especially important for finding out where to find the nearest AIDS testing center, or a way of quietly letting people know about an upcoming event.

In order to not 'scare away' any potential customers, the store was "originally designed the store so that it got gayer the farther back you went," according to Baxter. Today, the space holds The Hightide Salon. The Hightide Salon has a vibrant rainbow sticker decorating their front window — and a colorful, fading mural in their back room. The Paper Plant had a certain raffish charm that appealed to Raleigh's bohemian set, but if we were going to lure gay men and lesbians out of the Raleigh suburbs and over from Durham and Chapel Hill, we needed to spiff the place up considerably.

Everything that could be done with paint and carpet was done. The big plateglass windows in the front of the store made the space bright and cheerful, and John and his crew from the Greensboro store made everything shine.

John bought beautiful wood shelving and fixtures from a defunct bookstore, we stocked them, and the store opened in At first, we broadened the subject matter of the store a bit beyond LGBT titles because we weren't sure what kind of walk-in customers we'd get, and we didn't want to lose any potential business.

As it happened, nothing sold except the gay stuff, but it took awhile to figure that out. This led to some interesting encounters. We originally designed the store so that it got gayer the farther back you went.

Sometimes folks would wander in, get right to the middle of the store and then stop, levitate slightly, spin around and headpolite but panickedfor the door.

We always said "Thank you for stopping by," and they always said "No, thank you. One day a young couple came in around lunchtime. She immediately gravitated toward the calligraphy materials back stock from Greensboro. He got bored and wandered a little deeper into the store. Moments later, he zipped back to her side and stayed there, whispering urgently.

She bought some books and paid with a check. I blanched a bit when I read that they were a Mr. Helms from Monroe, N. I can't prove a connection, but the very next day we had a city inspector come in demanding to see our business license. They'd had a complaint that we were running an adult bookstore at that location. A quick look around determined that we were doing no such thing, and that was the end of that.

The store was broken into that first year. Now, what he planned to do with several dozen T-shirts emblazoned with "Nobody Knows I'm A Lesbian," I'm not sure, but customers assured me they never saw them for sale out at the flea market. We got a stronger lock for the door.