Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us . . . !

We are approaching our third birthday! On July 13th 2009, Rosie Lomberg opened By Local for the first time, with the help of her mother, Helen, for a period of 6 weeks - just for the summer holidays! This was in the big shop at the top of the escalator at the High Street entrance to the Regency Arcade - yes, the one that has now been demolished, and is now an enormous empty space, a useful reminder that you can never go back! It's a mark of Rosie's good management skills and vision that 3 years later, with several moves of premises and the help of Keziah Kurg and several exhibitors who have volunteered as Supervisors, the shop is going from strength to strength.


Many of the original exhibitors are still with us, having helped with the nitty gritty of dismantling an existing shop and cleaning and setting up a new one many times over the past 3 years! The Regent Arcade management also deserve credit for supporting such an imaginative concept for so long. When By Local started, pop up shops were quite a ground breaking concept, and it took quite a leap of imagination for a big organisation like the Arcade to see their potential, respect to them, not just for giving us a chance in the first place, but for continuing to find us replacement premises each time they found longer term tenants for our existing shop!


In February 2010, we moved from the big premises upstairs to a smaller shop downstairs, under the Fish Clock (part of what is now 'Schuh') and after a few months there, moved next door for another 2 months, before moving down the Arcade to the old 'ART' shop, then as the 4th move in 2010 across the 'street' to what had been The Officers Club menswear shop. 


By Christmas of 2010 (our second Christmas offering unique Christmas gifts & cards!) we were back in our original, enormous shop beside Butler's cafe where we stayed until September of 2011.


In September 2011 we moved to our present shop, on the upper floor, beside TKMaxx - after so long in a big shop, such a neat, open premises was an excellent exercise in self discipline! With so much display space in the large, ex-toy shop, all exhibitors had ample space to display whatever they wanted, however they wanted. In the present shop, not only is there less display space for each exhibitor, but it is beautifully lit, so everything can be clearly seen (good or bad!) so selecting one's items for display can be quite a challenge!


Over 3 years exhibitors have come and gone, each departure offering a new person an opportunity to try their creations in the market - sometimes to be wildly successful, and go on to bigger and more profitable things, not just through By Local, but also through our sister shop in Gloucester, run by Rosie's mother, Helen, with their own team of priceless volunteers & exhibitors! The Gloucester Arts & Crafts Centre, in College Street, has the advantage of larger premises, with a large room downstairs, where they can hold classes and workshops. This facility has enabled exhibitors to expand their potential for earning and the teaching allows them to demonstrate and pass on their skills to others.


                                    http://www.gloucestershireartsandcraftscentre.co.uk/
Each exhibitor signs up for a 6 week stretch, during which they must work the equivalent of 3 full days in the shop.


This commitment to work in the shop is very useful to exhibitors, it gives them a chance to look at a business approach to life (not everyone has had this experience) and the interaction with the public gives a very useful feedback of market research - when you can talk direct to your customer you get a useful insight into why people buy (or don't buy) your work! This invaluable feedback helps crafters with product development, and often gives added inspiration & motivation to artists with constructive comments from customers. 


We will be celebrating our birthday with several opportunities for our customers to benefit from their loyalty, so keep an eye on our Facebook & twitter feeds, not to mention the website and  newsletter, to take advantage!

Busy! Busy!

Well, have we been busy the last few weeks?! The Diamond Jubilee gave us lots to celebrate and inspire our creativity, and many of our makers produced something special to mark the occassion.

Kath made all sorts of patriotic little mementoes, such as this Union Jack Heart. We made the most of them with a stand at the special Jubilee Market that the Mall organised in the Regency Arcade.

This had an added benefit - many of our fans seemed to have 'lost' us when we moved from the old toy shop, by Butlers cafe, and you rediscovered us through the stall, which is lovely! Welcome back, friends!

We were able to give people a good 'appetiser' of samples from nearly all our exhibitors, and it was interesting how the smaller expanse of stock gave people a chance to actually *see* more of what we have to offer - I think sometimes it is possible to have too much of a good thing, you can't take it all in!

This baby hat, by Amanda hawkins, sold out in no time! But you can still commission one for your 'Made in England' treasure!

We have been without soaps & bathtime treats for a while, but we are about to remedy this, Kate Burgess, of Cotswold Naturals will be joining us soon.  You can see more at http://www.cotswoldnaturals.co.uk/ But in the meantime here's some more examples of her temptations.

Kate is due to set out her goodies on Sunday 24th June (next Sunday) I have a suspicion they will also sell like hot cakes, so don't hang about!

This is a gift pack of several bath treats, want to buy yourself a present? Oh, go on, let us lead you astray!  Finally, the best of good news, Jackie Hawkins, who fell and suffered a nasty leg break, is back on the rota - today! The brave woman is coming in on her crutches, such is the way we makers feel about the By Local community, so please pop in and admire her charming glass.

Spring is sprung! (almost!)

 

The weekend just gone has given us an encouraging taste of coming spring!  It's gone a bit grey again, now, but the shop is full of encouraging reminders of the joys to come - these hares, by Penny Gaj, available as cards or prints, are a timely reminder that March is only a couple of days away, and the 'Mad March hares' will soon be boxing! Did you know, it's actually feisty lady hares telling pushy males where to stick their unwelcome advances?!  I think they should be a feminist icon!

We are already seeing the lambs in the fields, of course, they seem to arrive earlier each year, and their effervescent joy in life is enchantingly infectious!  Not everyone can get out to see them 'in the wool', perhaps you know someone who can't and would enjoy this card by Bev Perry as a tangible taste of spring?

 Bev also has this delightful card of ducklings, and the water ways will soon be full of these little balls of fluff, too.  A very British sign of Spring, much missed by many expats I know, are the bluebells in the woods.

This picture of Trudi's seems to me to completely capture the essence of Spring, as we know it in Britain. Our climate gives us a Spring like no other, and we should be grateful for its delicate beauty, it's a unique national treasure!  One of our new exhibitors, Nicolas Waters, is also an artist with a perceptive eye for the natural world.

This picture by Nicolas makes me think of spring in the Orkney Isles, where I lived for a time, and the spring air is filled with the bubbling calls of curlews and the 'tee-auch' of lapwings.

Finally, 1st March is St David's Day, which, as a Welsh girl, always feels like the start of Spring to me! So, this is the perfect flower to be wearing on Thursday!  Happy Spring, everyone!

Eunice Makes!

This week's post is from the delightful Eunice, who recycles much of her materials, which makes her creations all the more pleasing.

Why I love ByLocal?

Well the answer is friendship and common goals. 
I first moved to Cheltenham six years ago and only knew my fiance and his family.  It was a big shock to move to a small town after living in a busy city like Edinburgh. Three years ago, I was made redundant from my teaching post after government cuts - Yes the Labour government made cuts too! -  I decided to become self-employed and sell my wares. I design and make Soft Toys (plushies), Accessories and Home Decor all from recycled leather and unloved textiles.
 www.eunicemakes.com  (Not for the first time as I have had a previous life as a dressmaker and upholsterer). 

I soon found that it was harder to be self-employed in Cheltenham, as I didn't know anybody. I didn't know where to sell, which markets to attend etc., etc.  I joined up to the ByLocal shop and soon found that everyone was very helpful and shared lots of information about Cheltenham and the surrounding area, art courses, markets... the list is endless. 
As time went on I became a supervisor and  enjoyed the ByLocal experience even more.  I get to meet lots of lovely, like-minded people who have become good friends and also quiz them about their artist techniques, marketing and promotions.

We even have a Swap Box where artists can leave unwanted resources or books for others to use.  All of us have had a good clear out and donated our "rubbish" to the swap box, there's always someone that will need it.  Any leftovers go to the nearest charity shop, so it's a win-win situation.

If it wasn't for ByLocal I wouldn't have started my new online business www.airmailrepublic.com which is an online gallery shop where artists can sell their work and post it directly to your doorstep. 
I realised that a lot of the ByLocalites did not have a web presence and I wanted to change that.  I have sold my creations on Etsy for years and thought I could set up a website where the artists could promote themselves and sell their Art.  Each week my site is growing with more and more artists wanting to join so I can only thank ByLocal for helping spread my wings in Cheltenham's creative community. 
It has helped me a great deal!

Eunice Wilson
Me    -                   www.eunicemakes.com
New gallery    -   www.airmailrepublic.com
Blog                      www.airmailrepublic.weebly.com