Think Globally, Source Locally
“Buy local” has to start with retailers. Those who develop relationships with local artists get unique product and word-of-mouth marketing.
By Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 5/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Specialty retailers have the advantage over other retailers in the buy local evolution, thanks to the wealth of talent right in their own backyards: their local artists. As Americans become increasingly aware of the term 'carbon footprint,' they are changing the face of 'business as usual' with grass roots efforts (See: “Home Field Advantage,” Gifts & Decorative Accessories, October 2006) and their own personal choices.
Working with local artists doubles the emotional appeal of buying locally, because customers know they are supporting a local artisan as well as a local store. While cities often have independent business alliances, they aren't the only places local shopping is a draw. Tabbatha Henry, Waterbury, VT-based porcelain artist, told Gifts & Decorative Accessories, “Here in Vermont there's a big locavore (local food) movement of people trying to buy locally. The money you spend goes to benefit your local community and you can see it.”
Amy Shaw, co-owner of Greenjeans handmade products store in Brooklyn, NY, says there are more reasons some people prefer to buy local than just the political. “I think part of it is out of curiosity about what is available from local people.” And when it comes to small businesses, she says, “The more a part of the community you can be, the more people will find you a friendly place to shop.” There's no set definition of 'local,' but Shaw says two thirds of her artists are from within 200 miles.
Art made by locals may also have a flavor of home, whether it is a Southwestern color palette or jewelry made from seaside shells. Stephanie Fleishman, owner of retail store 2910 on the Square, Canton, MD, works with an artist who hand-paints local scenes on wood panels and bricks. Says Fleishman, “She also does custom work, so you can have your row house” — a popular local architectural style — “painted.” Customers can't get that anywhere else. And with the rising cost of gas, some advantages of sourcing from local artists make dollars and cents. Says Shaw, “It's easy to see them; it is easy to get their work; the cost is only a subway ride instead of UPS.”
Going the Extra Mile
One major benefit of working with local artists is hands-on help. “When you want to do a trunk show you don't have to fly them in, they're right there, and they'll send out your invitations to their friends and relatives,” Fleishman enthuses. Shaw is planning an ambitious schedule of events at a new outdoor market. “Our plan is to showcase local artists at least once a month,” she said, including a local weaver, quilt maker, and children's book publisher.
It is often possible to discover local artists at an early stage in their career, and develop a closer relationship than you could with just one of their many customers. Fleishman describes the evolution of one of her vendors: “He was an art teacher and we kind of got him to take off. We commissioned him to paint our storefront and then he got into doing other places around the square and we had a trunk show and then he got into doing production of water colors that were matted.”
For Art's Sake
Working with local artists can present challenges to stores who are used to bigger vendors. “Turnaround time is very different for a single artist or small collective than for a larger manufacturer,” explains jewelry artist Catherine Dean, Historically Inspired Designs, Richmond, VA. “We don't typically have a large investment in stock; most things are produced to spec. I ask my buyers to order with a four to six week lead time. Usually I can fill orders faster than that, but with larger buyers if they place an order for six dozen of something I may not have in stock; I may have to place an order myself. Once you have a relationship with an artist that gets easier because I can anticipate what my retailers are going to need.”
Scaling up order sizes was also a concern for Henry, who is just beginning her wholesale career with applications to the Buyer's Market of American Craft and wholesalecrafts.com.
“I've just come up with a line of translucent votive luminaries,” she said. “I was thinking it would be great to get an order for a hundred of these, and then I realized I can't make a hundred by hand in a timely fashion.” Despite that challenge, Henry plans to shift from one-of-a-kind sculptures into functional, production-oriented items for her wholesale debut. “I'd like to wholesale my one-of-a-kinds, but I'm not really sure how that works, so I'd like to get some retailers established first,” she says.
Fleishman says with some artists the wait can be longer than a few weeks. “We'll wait months,” she said. “Sometimes it is a hobby for them or it is not their bread and butter, so trying to keep the merchandise stocked is hard. You can only do so much prodding.” With a new vendor, the safest way is to purchase pre-made work, build some leeway into the ship date, or plan a display that works with or without it. However, Henry says artists may be more responsive than corporations: “You have a little more accountability dealing with an individual.”
Another factor that may be different, says Dean, is payment. “I personally am happy to offer Net 30; but for a lot of artists, that's going to be a completely foreign concept. Especially for an initial order, if [retailers] are willing to do COD, pay in advance or make a deposit, it will help build a trust relationship. If you are dealing with a one person business, ordering all the supplies for a large order can be scary and cause cash flow issues.”
Is Pricing a Problem?
It can be. Dean, counter to the norm, started her business at wholesale, which helped her avoid what she calls a common mistake: “a lot of artists price for a retail market and then don't pay themselves enough, so they can't afford to wholesale.” Shaw says this is particularly a problem among crafters found at popular website Etsy. She says. “We can't sell for double the price they sell on Etsy, and they don't want to lower their price on Etsy because that's their rock bottom price.” Nevertheless, a meeting on ways to partner with Etsy is in the planning stages.
A related issue is that crafters selling wholesale and retail in the same local area can undercut their retail customers. Fleishman tells artists they need to match her price when they sell locally, but they don't always listen. “I had one woman who was low-balling me and I finally told her to come pick her stuff up, because if she is going to compete in my back yard, why even have it taking up shelf space in our store?” she said.
If pricing is appropriate, however, Shaw doesn't consider competition from artists at fairs to be a problem. “The more people get to know them, the more recognizable they become when they come into our shop. If they're gathering a local following, that is beneficial to us.” She does prefer not to overlap with other stores in Brooklyn, “but that's a little difficult since local people need to make a living.”
Artists accustomed to selling on consignment have already adjusted to wholesale pricing. “In my consignment galleries they are still taking about 50 percent,” says Henry, who actually expects her new line of production goods for wholesale to yield a slightly better margin. “It will be better because I can make these things a little more efficiently.”
Alternatively, pricing that pays the true cost of supplies, time and a decent profit may scare off consumers who are used to all the cost efficiencies of overseas production, especially in a weakening economy. But Shaw says this can be overcome: “People definitely balk at the prices sometimes, but half of what we do is educate consumers about their alternatives, and once they hear the whole package they're persuaded.”
Where to Find a Starving Artist
Places to find local artists include school or church benefit auctions. Some towns offer local artist studio tours, and of course, there's word of mouth. You could also look for local art instructors, both to see their own work and to ask for referrals to promising pupils.
In spite of potential pricing issues, Dean is enthusiastic about Etsy as a place to source. “Etsy is a great place to find local artisans; there's a shop local feature,” she says. It's not just the smallest scale producers who use the site; several exhibitors in the New York Intl. Gift Fair's handcrafted division cited Etsy as a source of sales and an easy way to have a Web presence. Other sources, Dean suggests, include the Internet in general, as well as small scale farmer's markets and local craft shows, both the 'independent' and the more traditional.
Another promising route to find local artists: let them come to you. Says Fleishman, “We have one local artist, probably our top selling artist, who found us.” Dean agrees, “I contact retailers directly, so look in your email. Don't throw things away.” Shaw concurs: “Usually when we are finding local people it is either through small local fairs like Brooklyn Design or they find us. We get two or three a day.”
But while Fleishman considers “people who walk in off the street and you can take it on consignment,” to be one of the advantages of working with local artists, Shaw disagrees. “We don't really like it when people come in with their stuff to show us. It is awkward, and if the stuff is not really interesting to us it is hard not to feel like we're hurting their feelings. We have developed a policy where we tell people we only look at stuff online. Unless they […] don't have a computer, we send them away.”
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