Loose Screws: The Aftermath

By Ant Perrucci

When Loose Screws closed its doors in May, St. Augustine didn’t just lose one of its more colorful local businesses.

It’s possible that at least two civic organizations that used the store front as a base of operations would also be struck with a killing blow.

In the month since the store – which offered a local video-rental service, records and t-shirts for sale, and a small consignment shop – closed, Food Not Bombs and the Collective Press, two of St. Augustine’s most high-profile activist groups, have been forced to take stock and figure out where to go from here.

The exact reason why Loose Screws closed is not known. Efforts to contact Kris Burton, the store’s former owner, were unsuccessful. Sources told Drift that since shutting the doors, she has moved out of town because of turbulent personal issues.

But the city’s involved locals were more than willing to weigh in on the loss of Loose Screws and what it means to them.

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“We’re kind of in the process of re-forming the collective,” said Terry Buckenmeyer, a member of the Collective Press, from the stoop of the now-vacant retail space on 125 King Street.

“(The Collective Press) an alternative to mainstream commercial media,” Buckenmeyer explained. “I think we give a voice in print for people who wouldn’t otherwise have one.”

The paper, which is published in St. Augustine, included in its latest edition writings by Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been imprisoned since 1981 after being convicted of killing a police officer. It also published an article decrying the federal prison system’s visitation policies.

“The other thing we do is try to be a part of rebuilding the community into something more humane,” Buckenmeyer said.

Buckenmeyer has been a member of the Collective Press since September, he said.

“It may change, somewhat,” Buckenmeyer said of the publication. “We try to be responsive to the readers. We get a lot of feedback.”

Buckenmeyer said that one of the ideas floating around for the future of the Collective Press was an increased presence on the Internet.

“Kris [Burton], she would take all the submissions. We would [hold] our meetings here … the loss of Loose Screws is really bad in a lot of ways.”

“For personal reasons, she decided she had to move, but we all just wish her the best and really miss her,” Buckenmeyer said.

The Collective Press is aiming to have its newest issue on newsstands in the beginning of August, Buckenmeyer said.

“It will become whatever our readership wants it to become,” Buckenmeyer said. “We can’t just let it die.”

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“For a town this size,” Buckenmeyer said, “Food Not Bombs serves [meals] seven nights a week, which is amazing.”

Jackie Werboff, who’s been a member of St. Augustine’s Food Not Bombs group for seven months, said that she got involved “to give back to the community and try to help people out.”

The group solicits donations and cooks meals for the poor.

“Food is a right,” Werboff said.

And without Loose Screws to serve as a base of operations, Werboff said, “we’ve definitely had a harder time.”

Since Loose Screws closed shop, the group’s new drop-off location has become Needful Thingz, located at 215 W. King St.

“We just started, [but] it’s been catching on,” Rob Heinrich, the store’s owner, said.

“After being in the military, I thought Food Not Bombs was a good cause.”

Heinrich is a retired member of the Navy, where he worked as a mechanic.

“I like the fact that it’s helping the community, rather than a large organization. If we can help the community, that’s what matters.”

Werboff said that her involvement with the group “allows me to feel [like I help] … People out on the street aren’t getting good nutrition.”

And the landscape of those streets is already changing with the absence of Loose Screws.