I’ve been feeling re-energized about my Etsy shop lately, and have been working towards a few new and exciting things…
- I’m planning to add hand-dyed, commercially spun yarn to the shop (like the yellow and the dusky violet I shared in earlier posts). I’ll have several up in the shop in the next week, and plan to add more as time allows.
- This coming Monday-Wednesday, June 6-8, 2011, I’ll be participating in an online fiber community summer sale. Everything in the Wandering Wolf Etsy shop will be 20% off when shoppers use the coupon code COMMUNITY. Following the link to the sale information will take you to a list of all participating vendors. All are offering discounts or free shipping.
- I started up a Facebook page for Wandering Wolf shop & sale updates, news of events and so forth. It’s very small right now and just getting started, but I would love to have anyone interested join the page (by clicking the “like” button).
- Next Saturday, July 11th, I’ll be at the Albany Farmers Market participating in World Wide Knit in Public Day.
Our event hasn’t been listed up on their site yet, Our event is listed here on the WWKiP website… we’ll be in a booth at the Farmers Market which is at 4th and Ellsworth in downtown Albany. The hours are 9am-1pm, and we’ll have a few chairs and some supplies to play with. We welcome knitters, crocheters, and if there is room, spinning wheels. Please bring your own chair if you can. - In July, my cool little town has a downtown sidewalk sale event called “Crazy Daze”, and this year, they are asking vendors to participate. I’ll be there Friday night and all day Saturday (July 8-9), along with my friend Megan of
La Petite Vie. So excited! There might even be room for me to bring my antique spinning wheel and get some people interested in spinning! - And, finally… last but not least for local friends, there is a display up in the Footwise, Corvallis store window, featuring several of my favorite local Etsy artists. Members of the Corvallis Etsy team did a great job setting this up! I have some yarn and one of my crocheted hats in the window. Can’t wait to go take a look at how it all turned out.
I think that’s all the news for now. Yikes… I better get off the couch and get some work done!
Okay, so, in my last entry, I ranted a little about the hours that some Corvallis (and Albany) merchants keep, and how they’re not terribly convenient for those of us with full time jobs. Judging from the comments and e-mails I got, I am not alone in these feelings.
That post got linked over at the GT’s Green City blog with invitations for response. I think my frustration with the local merchants got a little convoluted — partly my fault due to the comment I left over there, but the comment about “no local strawberries in December” threw me a bit. I don’t want local strawberries in December… and I think good food is one of the easier things to source locally around here, actually. I did appreciate the feedback, though, especially the comment from Christa, who reminded me that garden centers can be a great location to find gifts.
Anyway, instead of a complaint and nothing more, I decided to start a list of merchants around the valley who are open past 6pm during the week. I’ll try to focus on non-chain shops. It’ll have to be a work in progress because not everyone has a website and that means phone calls and blaaaaah. Eventually, I’ll move the list to a page of its own.
Here’s a start, off the top of my head:
The Book Bin — open until 9pm Monday-Thursday, 10pm on Friday
Grass Roots Books & Music — only open until 6pm Monday-Thursday, but open until 7pm on Friday
Peak Sports — only open until 6pm Monday-Thursday, but open until 8pm on Friday (visit the site for extended holiday shopping hours)
Animal Crackers Pet Supply — open until 7pm Monday-Friday
WineStyles — open until 8pm Monday-Thursday, 9:30pm on Friday
Tom’s Garden Center — during the dates of November 16-December 25th, open until 7pm
Well, that’s all I can find for now… a lot of places don’t have websites, and those that do aren’t open any later than 6pm during the week. If anyone knows of a place I can add to this, leave a comment!
Editing 11/25: How could I have forgotten the local yarn shop? Shame on me. Fiber Nooks & Crannys is open until 8pm on Thursdays. Except on Thanksgiving, natch.
Here’s the story of what happened when we tried to dump our big corporate ISP and go with a local company:
FAIL
So, yep, the attempt failed, because it depends on line of sight to their transmitter and we have way too many trees around us. (Uh, not that this is a bad thing.) It’s a shame because we really wanted to support this local company which, by all accounts, has some really great customer service. Instead, we’re stuck with the big company which generally sucks but we do have a friend who works for them and he’s nice and… well… he’s nice. And knowing him came in handy when the trash collector people tore down our cable line one day and didn’t bother to tell anyone.
But that’s not the point I’m trying to make here! Trying to buy local, that’s what I’m talking about!
Now, since we are entering into the holiday season, please let me segue into a little rant that I have… listen up, downtown Corvallis! And Albany, too! You guys have to — no, I really mean HAVE TO — stay open later if you want my ‘buy local’ dollars. I’m not kidding, and 5:30 doesn’t count. I have to work every day until 5pm and I am SO NOT DOWN with the 20 minute mad-dash. No, no, no. And don’t even try to tell me I have to give up my Saturdays to support you, either. While I’m certainly willing to do a little of my shopping on Saturday, I’m already here — 10 miles from home — all week.
It’s totally irksome to hear that some business owners complain that people don’t shop local, when many are doing everything in their power to ensure that they aren’t open when I can actually shop. Please don’t stress me out while I attempt to be your customer. Kthxbai.
(Oh, and P.S., I’m really sad that SLAB had to close. There was only so much soap I could buy, but I did my best.)
Fake Plastic Fish has a good, thought provoking post today about expanding the definition of local. As an avid Etsy… well, I’d like to be more of a shopper, but there’s a budget to consider. Call me an Etsy stalker. Anyway, I kind of like this idea of being a ‘community shopper’, rather than a strict ‘local shopper’.
There. There’s my consumerist diatribe for today. Thank you, come again!
Craftgawker
Etsy Mini
