Raise your hand if you headed off to the studio this past weekend and wound up staring at a sign on the door telling you to go to the studio's NEW Pop-up location? (You're not alone; one sweet, honest shopper admitted as much to me on Thursday)
If you've been shopping at Brown Dog Open Houses over the past 8+ years, you've stepped into an extension of my studio (or garage, etc), which resides in my home. What a joy to have welcomed so many of you into my homey studio! It made sense..If I needed something, I just popped right back into my work area. Because I had regular open shopping hours during the week, I usually left the studio set up most of the time...when I was doing maybe a FEW shows a month.
But the times have been a-changing! With 45+ shows a year (at last count), the studio stays in pack-mode so that I don't spend literally HOURS each week on extra packing when I could be making pretties for the studio. I also lose workbench time setting up one-on-one appointments in the studio.
So, when Todd (Mr. Brown Dog) wondered aloud if I'd ever considered a different venue for my Open Houses, I started thinking...
hmmmm....better lighting, better parking, more elbow room, no stairs to the basement, none of my shoppers worrying about whether they could bring friends to a show, not to mention the teenagers' bathroom!
And a plan began to take shape! After a whirlwind search for open space to lease and a few disappointments, I finally (last minute) found a great, temporary site for both parts of this year's Christmas Open House and Stop and Shop. A HUGE location at 56th and South Streets, my set-up has been great for shopping and check-out. I have NOT opened a permanent location, and that isn't my plan...the studio travels too much to even consider a shop.
A big THANKS to everyone who came and found the studio this weekend. I took oodles of custom orders, which will be ready for pick-up in the SAME LOCATION, along with even more GREAT shopping in 3 scant weeks...Thursday Dec 12 (5-8), Friday Dec 13 and Saturday Dec 14 (10-8 both days).
Will I have this space again next year? Well, the leasing company probably hopes it will be rented before then, but I will plan on having locations for my Valentine, Mother's Day and Christmas shows. I've gotten so busy during June and when I usually have my Fall Open House that I'm deciding whether or not just to have you find me at one of the great shows I attend!
Pop-up studio EXPLAINED :)
