Taylor Swift donates to help employees at beloved Nashville record store Grimey's
Employees at Grimey's New & Preloved Music were shocked when one very famous star stepped in to help after they were sent home from work due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
After Nashville Mayor John Cooper issued a safe-at-home order on March 22, workers at the store were spending their last day in the shop doing some final deep cleaning when a representative for Taylor Swift called to say the singer wanted to help.
Co-owner Doyle Davis shared some of the direct needs of the store and its full-time employees, and Swift donated money directly to those workers along with paying for three months of heath care.
Davis said he had already let his part-time workers go so they could file for unemployment and had also furloughed his full-time staffers before he received the call.
"I knew I was not going to be able to make payroll going forward to keep them working," he said in an interview with "Good Morning America." "And I figured the best chance to to secure income was the unemployment benefit."
He was also concerned about their group health insurance plan, which he communicated to Swift's rep, giving their health care costs per month.
"I was just kind of blown away," he added on receiving the phone call. "I'm like, 'Wow, really?'"
He explained further: "All my full-timers got a check, including me and my business partner -- the owners -- and three months of those health care costs being paid, so I know our insurance is safe. It's just huge. That gives me the peace of mind to know my people are taken care of -- now I can focus on the business."
Davis added that he just filed for a Small Business Administration loan, which is now his focus with his staff taken care of for the time being.
His 10 staffers were equally surprised when they found out the news that Swift was going to donate money to them and immediately started listening to Swift in the store, Doyle shared.
"I'm familiar with Taylor's records. I've been hearing them for years and I really do, you know, like a lot of her stuff," he shared. "But this is like, 'OK, we're Team Taylor forever!"
He expressed just how meaningful it was for Swift to help out the small business.
"Small businesses are your local community," Doyle said. "When you spend your money in a small business, it stays right there in your local community. You go shop at a chain store of some kind, most of that money leaves your state. I mean, we're employing your friends and neighbors."
He also encouraged people to think about the small businesses in their own communities, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Local small businesses are run by people in your community with all the quirks that go along with people in your community, and that's often what makes them really cool and unique and interesting," Davis said.
He revealed Swift isn't the only member of the Nashville community who has stepped in to help the store.
The store has always done free in-store concerts for artists that coincide with new record releases. A slew of famous artists, including Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys and Metallica, have graced the stage.
With the shop being such a cultural landmark in the community, many stepped up to offer support.
"We had three local record labels write us checks to help," Doyle shared. "Jason Isbell's label group, Thirty Tigers, was the first one to write me a check. And we've done, you know, an event with Jason for every solo album he's ever released from the first one on"
"And I used that money initially to make my final payroll. I was worried about being able to pay my staff for the shifts they worked that last week, and then getting that check right there, you know, allowed me to make payroll. That was sort of my first taste of peace of mind going into this."
The store is also relying on sales of its online records and merchandise during this time.
