Recently that was some talk between my husband, Rick, and myself as to what to do with The Culture Vultures. We had invested so much time and money into it to have to shut it down after just 4 years. Since the fall in our economy, we felt the pain just like so many other businesses. Before the recession, we had a good business. We had a few customers that came in monthly and spent alot of money on jewelry, they were the ones that were paying my mortgage, the other regulars were the bread and butter to the business and were paying the bills for the store. Suddenly it came to a holt over the summer months. I would have to say it started in August. Soon I saw our regulars coming in but, they were not spending money. New comers were coming in and I could sense that they wanted to buy but, they were afraid to spend money. Even putting on a big sale did not really change the parting with money much. My business that was once up in the air flying freely like an eagle in the sky began to spiral downward only to drown in a ocean like a plane crashing into the Atlantic. Rick and I knew that we needed to do something and quickly.
In December I asked Rick to pray with me and he did. We both are very artsy and enjoy seeing beautiful craftsmenship of others. One thing that I was hearing a good bit in the store was that our customers had experienced a change in their income. Some had lost their jobs, some had been moved to part-time rather than full-time and others that still had their jobs knew that it was only a matter of time before they too would be standing in the unemployment line. I could see the real reality of the fall in our economy.
There are not any real craft stores in Charleston, South Carolina. Of course you can go to the North area to Micheal's and A.C. Moore but they have the same stuff almost that you can find at Wal-Mart. And where in Charleston can you find a place that offers really cool art classes? There are alot of bead stores that offer jewelry classes. Although I can't flip my store into a craft store such as Micheal's or A.C. Moore, nor would I want to. I do however see a need to offer something for our community to help themselves. There are many talented artist here and in the world of arts & crafts, you can learn a skill and be really good at it, enough to make some extra income.
I will never forget the first time that someone actually bought my handbags. We were living on Johns Island and I was a stay at home mom/housewife and I was always looking for something to do. I created these cute little vintage inspired pouch bags and sold them to a boutique in Kiawah, South Carolina. The day that I took them to see the buyer, I brought home a check for $156.00. After that, there was no stopping me. Overtime I created the Shoo Bag...yes, a real shoe turned into a handbag. Pretty soon I had a rep in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas selling my bags to retail stores. I did pretty good with it and eventhough I no longer have reps selling my bags, I still sell them in my own store.
So after praying and thinking, Rick and I came up with a plan to help others and save our store. We would add a sister business to The Culture Vultures, Embellish It. We now offer arts & crafts classes to our customers and we carry pieces that an artist can infuse with their creations such as: Vintage beads, fabrics & trims, feathers, wood, gourds, leather and anything else we can find that we think would be really cool to recycle into a new creation.
When we decided on what we were going to do, we went to work right away to prepare to make 2010 a great year for us and our customers. Rick built a wall in the store to block off space for a classroom, I began getting in touch with some of our artist friends and other's whose art work we admired and ask them about teaching. Rick and I too will be teaching classes as well. For the month of January we are kicking off with our Polymer Clay and Fused Glass Classes. To know more about it, go to our website http://embellishchas.homestead.com
Classes to come in Febuary are Woodburning, Haute Handbag Designs, Paper Mache' and we will have a mystery class each month. Just a fun thing to learn. In Febuary our myster class will be lampshade covering. Check out our press release at http://charleston.thedigitel.com/arts-culture/culture-vulture-goes-diy-17009-0104
If you do not live in Charleston and would like to learn a skill in the arts, I would suggest that you check with your local craft store and art galleries.
Through the year 2010, I will be blogging about what many of our students are learning and doing at Embellish It. My hope for them is that whatever reason they are learning a new skill, that they have fun and find something that they are passionate about.
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