an ACTUAL store?

Lately, we've been plugging away every weekend at the Brunswick Flea Market, which has been really fun and a really great learning experience.  People have been admiring our stuff, and giving us tips and advice, which is super nice.  It seems like one thing that comes up very often is people telling us that it's smart of us to start small, because very often people make the mistake of having a store, and they have to spend all their time worrying about keeping up with their overhead.

I haven't been telling them that we actually do want a store.

Despite knowing that there's SO MUCH more risk involved when you get into an actual brick & mortar business, from the cost of rent alone to things like insurance, liability, WAY more money than we're spending on advertising now (our current budget is $0. ha), having an accountant (the list goes on...) - it's what we really want.  We have so many ideas that, honestly, won't even work unless we have our own space.  I'll be the first to admit that it's big and scary and we don't know what we're doing with everything, but I think half the battle is knowing that you're going to be facing things that you won't know how to handle, but life is about adapting, I think.  Being prepared to be in over your head is a smart preparation, right...?

 Tomorrow we are trepidatiously tiptoeing towards a possible retail adventure!  We're going to see a space that's currently an office but is being converted into retail over the next few months.  The fact that it won't be ready for a while is actually a plus for us, because it gives us an opportunity to get organized. It has big, lovely windows that would be perfect for displays, and it's in one of the only areas in our town that gets any sort of foot traffic at all. The owner is a great guy, and we actually met with him several months ago about the spot next door - which we fell in love with, but weren't able to take.  This new spot that we're seeing tomorrow might even be a better fit, so it's very exciting!   

all images from various placed on the interwebs, curated on our pinterest board

We'll keep you posted.  Wish us luck!

-Jess :)

flea market weekend!

This weekend we decided to undertake in the adventure of... flea marketing! not, um, marketing fleas, but rather, participating in a local flea market.  The flea market we chose is in Brunswick, in a lovely old mill, and it takes place every weekend.  The mill is a lovely old brick building, filled with lots of different vendors, peddling antiques, vintage bits and pieces... and... well, of course there was some junk.  So much junk in fact, that our tidy little booth stood out quite a bit.  We as vendors stood out quite a bit as well... young girls in the midst of a lot of older, flea-market types.  We showed up with our dresses and boots and flowers in our hair, a very stark contrast to their beards, suspenders and gray hair.  But honestly, everyone there LOVED us!  I think they were excited to have some young blood in their midst.

We made friends with Jack, an adorable old man with the table across from us.  We had a bunch of snarky cards there, and he loved them, and was inspired to show us his old cards (caiti is holding one in the picture above... it had a cell on the front and the inside says "When I'm with you I get cilia and cilia" HA. also, you can see Jack in the background).  And we sold a few things... not a lot, but... enough to pay for the booth and then some! 

We're going to go back and give it another go this weekend... wish us luck! :)

PS.  we've finally got a facebook page set up...go check it out HERE and like us!