Norge Laundry & Cleaning Village has been a fixture of the Oakland scene  since 1982. The establishment has been woman owned since 2000 when Genny Bruggen purchased it and Black co-owned since 2004 when Lorene Howard bought in.

Norge Village is located at 3908 Grand Ave, open 7 days a week from about 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Norge never shut down during the pandemic although some customers thought they were closed, and business declined dramatically.  Bruggen says:    “Folks needed to wash coronavirus clothes.”

And wash and fold and dry clean, too.

The two owners don’t use computers much and have tried to do grants and loans, but applying for help has been challenging.  They did receive an SBA loan which is nearly gone. In the interim, equipment needs to be fixed, and rent and utilities need to be paid.

Currently, Norge is four months behind in rent and also behind in PG&E and water bills, and they want to repair equipment and add dry cleaning.

Customers are dropping by and helping out by donating in an envelope to their “GoFund me” so Norge can continue to grow its business and make up for revenue lost during the pandemic.

Norge has survived the pandemic and needs community help.  Please drop by, share and contribute at  www.gofundme.com/f/help-norge-village-through-coronavirus

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Isabelle Price

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