Hello lovely
people! You may have noticed (although you probably hadn't!) that I
have been a bit absent from the 'Ma Bicyclette' World recently!
This
is because I thought it would be fun to set up an arts, crafts and
vintage memorabilia shop in my local area with a few creative people I
know... (you know casual like).
Little did I know that it would take up literally ALL my time for the
best part of 4 months! Apparently setting up a shop is hard work - but they
choose not to mention this in 'shop building for dummies'...
Anyhoo
my lovely friends here have been super supportive and given me some
time off to invest in the new 'Emporium' I have helped create, but first
day back on the job and you will never guess what I have chosen to
write about... The Emporium! That's right... 10 points!
Slaithwaite (my neighbouring town)
is becoming unusually vibrant for a typical West Yorkshire village and
it has been fab to be involved in making it so. The main interest of
this lovely place is of community and supporting local businesses and
shops and it is because of this that I had no problem at all in wanting
to be involved when the original owner of the previous Emporium (The
Vintage and Craft Emporium - set slightly further out of the village) had
to leave her business for personal reasons and needed someone (or
someones) to continue her dream!
When
word got out about this all of the original artist and makers who
successfully sold their wares in the old place (and some new ones too)
got together and declared that this fantastic idea for a business could
not and will not end. So with a new set of 5 investors, a new central
mill unit available to rent straight away and a new logo (designed by yours truly) we set forth to make The Emporium - and since then have not
looked back!
It
took us 2 months in total to transform the place with endless fun
filled days of scrubbing, sanding, painting and decorating, but seeing as
it looked like this when we first got the keys, I think our hard work
has paid off!
Our
official open evening was on the 2nd November, and little did we know
the amount of support we would get! Since our doors have opened we have
had a constant flow of people coming in to wish us luck and buy some
vintage and handmade goodies from us. Similarly, we started this
business with one of the main ideas being that we could help support
local artists and makers in the area by displaying their stock in our
shop - but little did we know the amount of people who would be
interested in getting involved!
In
just over a month we have had over 40 local talented designers/makers
squeezed into our place (not including the 5 of us) and we are bursting
at the seams with unique artworks, handmade jewellery and crafts,
fab vintage clothes and memorabilia. Plus, we have also taken on two
brilliant women who run their haberdashery within our walls selling
gorgeous fabrics and crafting materials!
For
me and 'Felt Mountain Studios' however, I am lucky enough to have my
own 'mini' shop space all to myself! It has been so much fun filling it
with my all my designs and handmade goodies, and it has received
fantastic comments from those who come into the shop. The only problem
is, however, trying to keep the amount of stock up! After all when you
are making 90% of the stock yourself, it can be difficult sometimes
keeping up!
Even
though we have only been open a short while, there is already scope for
us to expand into another even bigger room behind us (that is currently
in more of a state then ours was at the beginning). Firstly, this is because we
don't seem to have enough room for all our stock, but mainly because we
will then have room to hold artsy workshops and fairs - an idea that has
been with us since the beginning, but we thought would take at least 6
months to get going! This also means that there will be more room too
for some of our more serious crafters to rent a small space for
themselves and their business rather than contributing a commission
from their sales to The Emporium as they do now.
We
are 100% into supporting the community and the idea of 'keeping it
local' and it seems easy peasy when the people you are supporting want
the same too! We know that there may be a lot of people in the world who
would buy items purely out of convenience at their local chain
supermarket, I mean who doesn't? But it is obvious, too, that nowadays
many people would also rather buy unique and one off or vintage items
that have a story and a personality. This is exactly why we wanted to
open our shop, to combine the ease of shopping locally with buying fun
things! And if you ever stop buy and visit our Aladdin's cave, you will
see what I am on about!
We
are always interested in hearing about local designers, vintage buffs
and tabletop businesses who are looking for somewhere to help them get
onto the 'making ladder' and show of their lovely works! So if it is
something you would like to hear more about yourself just head on over
to our blog (where you can also read more about our business and
crafters already involved) our Facebook or as always you can contact me also through my own blog too.
That's all for now but I shall be back again soon with more crafty and vintage ideas for a Christmas on a budget!
Lots of love Steph B x
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