Retailers: Find new brands at indie craft shows
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Retailers: Find new brands at indie craft shows
Spring in the start of the indie craft show season. Indie craft shows are retail art/craft marketplaces where the vendors are independent craftspeople, artisans or designers and they can be great places to discover new & as yet undiscovered goods to carry in your boutique. They can be an alternative to wholesale trade shows for finding opportunities to share completely unique to your boutique goods to your shoppers.
Indie craft shows are retail, so they are not the place to make purchases for your shop, but often the vendors do offer wholesale options, so all you have to do is ask. If you find a vendor who does not offer wholesale options, don't be afraid to broach the subject. Many indie artists are just waiting for the opportunity to jump into the wholesale market and you could be the first in line to share an undiscovered talent!
Here's a listing of some of the bigger and better indie craft shows in the US. I've tried to share at least one for the various regions.
The mother of all indie craft shows, the Renegade Craft Fair features hundreds of vendors at a time and is held at different location throughout the US (and the UK) and throughout the year. Locations include: Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and London (UK). The next scheduled show is going to be in Austin on May 19 & 20, 2012.
image credit: By lazy sundae
A public market highlighting the best in handmade goods, the Indie Craft Parade is held in Greenville, SC.
Held in Philadelphia, PA, the Art Star Craft Bazaar is put on by the Art Star Gallery & Boutique located in the Northern Liberties section of Philly. The quality of the vendors at this show is always amazing and reflects the exquisite taste of the Art Star owners. Featuring hundreds of vendors. This one is coming up soon—May 12 & 13, 2012.
image credit: By Art Star Philly
Urban Craft Uprising is Seattle's largest indie craft show. Started 7 years ago, Urban Craft Uprising is a big show – attendees number 10,000+ and highlights the best of Seattle's indie craft scene.(Our Community Concierge, Tara, has sold her yarn at UCU and found new retailers through it!)
Put on by Hello Craft and sponsored by the Washington City Paper, Crafty Bastards is held in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in DC. Always a lot of fun and packed to the gills with vendors and shoppers.
image credit: By twittering bird
Indie Craft Experience – ICE is Atlanta's major indie craft event and is scheduled this year for June 2 & 3, 2012.
Crafty Wonderland is Portland, Oregon's big indie craft fair. The Super Colossal Sprig Sale is to be held on May12, 2012.
Held throughout the year in Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco, and at the San Mateo Maker Faire, Bazaar Bizarre makes it claim that it's “not your granny's craft fair”!
image credit: By ♥ paper pastries
Some more indie craft fairs:
Indie CraftBazaar– Fort Lauderdale, FL
Ballston Arts & Craft Market– Washington, DC
Handmade Arcade– Pittsburgh, PA
Crafty Supermarket– Cincinnati, OH
Got Craft – Vancouver, BC & London, UK
Craftland – Providence, RI
Hopefully that will get you started with finding a indie craft fair near you. If you know of others, please do share them in the comments below.
Jen Wallace shares her indie life at Indie Fixx where she writes about making, creating, cooking, learning, playing, loving, and pretty much anything else that strikes her fancy.
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