Nice! That's such a nice 'full-circle' element to include, I'm a big fan of the model, and congrats on the expansion!
We used to do this at Xpace in 2004-2005, and we called it simply The Corner Store. It evolved out of a monthly retail event we used to host there called The Art Market. Our members were able to display and sell their work and wares in a typical retail setting in Kensington Market, in one of our giant garage door / front window sections of the shared space. We added a few gallery walls, display cases, clothing racks and shelves to the existing set up and staffed it Wednesday to Sunday. We learned that it was easier for us to sell each-others work than it was to sell our own. It's weird to talk about how great your own work is, and so we switched roles often and took turns working the store and handling sales, tours and visitors to the exhibition space. It was an additional revenue stream for the space (we sold a bit of branded merchandise) and for the artist / maker members. And it brought a lot of new people in that wouldn't have thought to visit us otherwise, so we increased our event attendance and our members also benefitted from that. The retail element was eventually removed (as the space has moved twice over the last 10 years and the mandate of the space has also changed over the years). But I would consider the model a solid one. It works in an exhibition / gallery setting for artist studios as well as long as the retail section is separated from the workspace to minimize interruption and wandering :) You should come to GCUC Canada and/or independently tour some of the other collaborative spaces like Walnut Studios, Graven Feather, or some of the Artscape properties in Toronto for similar artisan workspace/retail models. Best of luck! Ashley Creative Blueprint & Foundery www.creativeblueprint.ca www.foundery.is The Foundery Buildings 376 Bathurst Street Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 2S6 > On Aug 10, 2015, at 2:39 PM, rachel young <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hey folks, > > I have exciting news and a question. > > We've been looking for a way to engage local small-scale manufacturers and > artisans with our coworking space, and encourage shopping locally. When the > ground floor and basement of our building opened up, we quickly realised what > that could look like. > > We started a new membership level for artisans, manufacturers, designers, > artists, and makers to be members of our coworking space and use parts of the > building for what they need. > > Last week we launched the Camaraderie Artisan Market. It's a permanent retail > store specifically for artisans and manufacturers. Members pay a monthly > membership fee to have their goods sold in the market, which we staff and > manage entirely, and we don't take a commission on their sales (because we > already charge them a monthly membership fee and won't double dip). With > their membership they can also use the basement to produce their goods, and > use the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building for meetings with buyers, staff > interviews, administration of their business, and collaboration with what are > now our more traditional coworking members. It really is an all-inclusive use > of the building and a way for us to celebrate local artisans in a > collaborative way. And it's pretty rad! > > If you're in town for GCUC Canada next month, I encourage you to come by for > some shopping and I'll chat with the artisans to see if we can offer a > store-wide discount to conference attendees. > > And so my question: I know of coworking spaces with makerspaces for makers to > make goods and prototypes, and I know of coworking spaces for artists with > artist studios, and I know of coworking spaces with cafes. But are there any > other coworking spaces with retail for physical goods? I'm particularly > curious if there are coworking spaces with retail like this that are > exclusively for the members of their space. Anyone know of any? > r. > > > > ____________________ > rachel young > [email protected] > > We're located at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor > (between Bloor and Roncesvalles) > > Find us online: > Website/blog and Newsletter, Twitter, > Facebook, Google+, Yelp, and LinkedIn > > New Camaraderie locations: > Artisan Market (Toronto) - now open! > Port Credit (Mississauga) - summer 2015 > > We're a proud member of CoworkingToronto, > CoworkingOntario, and CoworkingCanada! > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
