Latest Vendor News
October 27th, 2011
Business Boogaloo: Post-Graduate Enterprise Session at Glasgow School of Art
This week, we were thrilled to be invited back to Glasgow School of Art to chat to some post-graduate students about our Made in the Shade exploits.
Since Clare was taking care of business at The Maisonette, Carrie held a wee story telling session about how we discovered our USP was something a little different to what we thought it was and how we went on to build our reputation and brand personality by well, um… just being ourselves, really.
Carrie gave the group a little bit of background about the Made in the Shade business and talked about some of the fun things she and Clare get up to when they’re not taking care of The Maisonette or organising events. She talked about off-shoot projects like The Tote Modern, collaborations with The BUST Craftacular in London and of course, about the odd – but amazing opportunity that came Made in the Shade’s way this year in the form of the Nokia tv ad campaign.
“Clare and I started our business together almost by accident. I guess some of the best things in life happen by accident! Made in the Shade is essentially a hobby that got incredibly out of hand and took over our lives. It’s the ever-changing product of years spent trying desperately to make some kind of impact on the ‘craft scene’ – for want of a better term – and to drag Scottish craft in line with the super-cool Londoners – who are already trying to drag the UK scene in line with those super-cool Americans. Damn those super-cool Americans.
One day, our experiences as long-time market participants, as creative practitioners and as event organisers reacted with the bucketload of frustrations, bugbears and gripes we’d been repressing for far too long. This reaction could have been messy, but oddly – and luckily for us, it resulted in a weird but colourful explosion of exciting ideas – out of which came Made in the Shade.”
Having discussed some of the motivations for moving Made in the Shade out of Hobbysville and into a more formal business landscape, Carrie told a little story about meeting a business advisor…
“It’s 2009. Springtime. Made in the Shade already had a year’s worth of events success under its belt. We’d established a relatively strong online presence, gathered an ever-growing register of brilliant designer makers who wanted to work with us and we’d made links with a healthy number of handmade-hungry customers via press inclusions and DIY promo campaigns. We had developed an identifiable visual identity and we had settled on our business ‘voice’.
We visited our business advisor well equipped to talk tactics. Or so we thought.
We had evidence that Made in the Shade had a customer base. We had evidence there was market demand for our ‘product’. We even had a decent set of figures to show, that, providing we could fine tune the perfect operating model, Made in the Shade was a financially viable venture that could sustain itself. Heck! We’d brought along our press clippings too – including the crazy broadsheet article heralding us ‘poster girls for new-wave craft’ – AND the publication that described Made in the Shade as … “the retail vision of the future!” Surely that ought to impress our man in the suit?!
“So. Made in the Shade. What’s your USP?” asks our business advisor. Let’s call him… Bill.
Cue awkward, toe-bunching, teeth clenching silence from our side of the table. We clutched our press clippings in our sweaty hands.
Concentrating on our event concept first of all, we nervously listed some of the building blocks of a Made in the Shade ‘shindig’. Old-time rock’n'roll music. Was that our USP? Amazing handmade products. Were those something to do with it? Funny event features, great customer service? Value for money? USP? Help! USP, anyone?
Unsure how else to respond, we gave up stuttering and just shut up – in the hope, I suppose, that Bill might be able to tell US what our USP was – since really, we weren’t very sure how to package it into a neat sentence and articulate it out loud.
Bill went on to give us into trouble to for describing our business in terms of what it ISN’T and not in terms of what it IS. “Our event is not a normal craft fair”. “We don’t sell mass-produced products”. “We are not typical high street fodder”.
Stopped in our tracks and a little deflated, we decided to invite Bill along to our next event. We wanted him to experience… whatever-Made-in-the-Shade-was for himself. Maybe if he interacted with our business, HE might be able to pinpoint our USP – or as we prefer to call it – ‘that sparky thing that makes a business amazing and different’. We hoped we might be able to SHOW him what made Made in the Shade different to similar craft/vintage retail platforms.
Bill did attend our event – and we visited his office again not long after. This time we brought nothing but ourselves.
“So. Made in the Shade. What’s your USP?” he asked again. This time though, he didn’t allow us to respond. Instead, he gave his hands a big clap and shouted, “YOU! YOU are Made in the Shade’s unique selling point. YOU are what makes Made in the Shade stand out and YOU are, ultimately, the basis of your brand”.
Confused and a little bit embarrassed, we weren’t sure whether we ought to be flattered.
We continued to chat to Bill about what he meant and afterwards, we spent a whole load more time reflecting on the meeting. We soon started to piece everything together. It seemed the key word for Made in the Shade success was ‘authenticity’.
For example… Our experiences as makers and as stallholders are invaluable to what we do. We have insights into the real needs of our vendors that our competitors don’t. We know how we’ve been treated by event organisers in the past. We reinterpret those experiences then use them to inform our own policies and as a means to judge our own level of service. Actually, more than that – we work hard to convince the makers we work with that they should generally expect more from their event organisers and Made in the Shade tries to inform the bench-mark and lead best practice.
As the old-school craft codgers on the block, we’ve been involved in our field > pre-bandwagon. We understand silly scene politics, we know our place within it and we know how to cut through it and communicate with our customers effectively, openly and honestly. The networks we’ve established and the reputation we’ve built within them has come to allow us a certain space to say what we need to – when we need to.
Our desires and demands as regular craft buyers and vintage collectors are genuine. Led by our tastes and our observations of craft trends, we know exactly what TYPE of handmade work and indie design we want to associate with our brand and we work hard to venture out of our immediate vicinity to source it. Our careful event selection process ensures that the products we offer up to our customers sit together in a curated collection – a considered, quality product range – distinctive to Made in the Shade.
There are loads more examples of where our own knowledge, experience, taste and vision collide to create something quintessentially ‘Made in the Shade’ – it filters through everything we do - but essentially, as Bill explained, crucial to our appeal and the longer term success and development of our ‘brand’, is that Clare & I maintain a personal visibility and audibility in the way we choose to represent Made in the Shade. The interest, the passion, the eye for craft, the love of old-time music, of vintage style and all the rest – (the rest, which to anyone else might seem like mere trappings and trimmings) – are generated by us and when all those elements are mushed up together in a very specific way, that’s Made in the Shade!”
Carrie continued to explain that as a direct result of Bill’s weird revelation, she and Clare consciously integrated the collective nickname, ‘The Made in the Shade gals’ into their business brand identity and then - things fell into place really rather naturally. Next, she offered the group a cautionary word or two…
“With that said, as is the way the world works, nothing stays ‘unique’ – or amazing or different for long… While it’s important to have that little USP kernel defined well in the early days, it’s also super-important to fast forward into the future and try to look at all the possible scenarios that might impact upon your new business and upon the elements of it that make you amazing and different.
As the country-wide craft/vintage frenzy has taken hold and more and more markets and craft shops and vintage themed businesses pop up, we’ve learned that Made in the Shade is incredibly lucky to amount to more than the sum of its ‘trappings and trimmings’.
Although we maintain, and will continue to maintain a consistency in our brand identity and in the personality of Made in the Shade, this doesn’t necessarily mean either is static or fixed. As our marketplace demands, we react and reinvent as necessary. With no desire to be whipped up in the latest stampede toward all things handmade or all things ‘vintage’ which insists we compromise our original ethos, we keep our eyes open and we make sure we’re light on our feet, ready to try out new things and unveil new ideas.”
Carrie explained that Made in the Shade is constantly evolving. She says that this freedom she and Clare have to develop and grow their business interests in tandem with new personal interests and passions is what motivates and excites them most. Incorporating new skills and coming up with fresh ideas keeps things fun!
As she wound up her presentation, Carrie left the group with some key points to consider and some questions to reflect upon…
What IS your USP? What is that thing that makes you/your product/your label/your art/your concept different and amazing? Is it something material? Is it tied up in your creative process? Is it YOU? Is it inherent to your skills, your taste, your vision?
Are you able to legally protect your USP? Are you able to protect elements of your business identity? Do it!
When you think about the future YOU, managing your future BUSINESS, what are the risks posed to your USP? What can you do to update your business and maintain a point of positive difference between you and your competitors?
Remember – regardless of what people might tell you, imitation is RARELY the sincerest form of flattery, especially when it comes to creative work, intellectual property and business ideas. However, you know you’ve done a good job when your competitors want to be like you and are using you as a market research tool! What you need to ensure though is that you’re always viewed as a positive reference, that you’re 5 steps ahead and that you’re always ready to innovate and lead the way!”
In her closing words, Carrie said…
“Someone told us once that we should stop being pioneers – that we ought to calm down and give ourselves a break. We laughed, we downed a couple of bottles of Lucozade Orange then got back to work.”
- Category: Business Boogaloo
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October 18th, 2011
Made in the Shade at The Lighthouse: Vendor Applications Now OPEN!
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! (We’ve always wanted to say that).
After a year long hiatus from Glasgow’s market-daft shopping calendar, we are thrilled to announce, that as a result of all your feedback and super-kind comments, Made in the Shade will return to The Lighthouse in Glasgow this Winter for an exclusive, one-off, 100% Christmas-ified Holiday Hullabaloo! It would seem you want it. So, as promised – YOU GOT IT :)
In association with Architecture & Design Scotland, on Saturday 10th December, the fabulous gallery 1 space at The Lighthouse will not only be crammed full of the very best indie craft & design talent this side of Amazeballsville, but the gals are all set to present THE event of the season complete with original event features, exciting collaborations, special guests, a flippin’ great shopping soundtrack (can’t forget the flippin’ great shopping soundtrack!) plus stacks of Christmassy surprises!
Made in the Shade is looking to recruit our best EVER dreeeeeeeeam team of indie crafters, designer makers, vintage lifestylistas and exciting retailers. If you would like to take part – we want to hear from you.
Find our vendor T&Cs and online application form here.
All applications must be recieved by 5pm on Sunday 30th October.
Vendor selections will be confirmed by 5pm on Monday 31st October.
If you have any questions or queries, please drop a line to: bookings@wearemadeintheshade.com and we’ll be happy to help!
Carrie & Clare
x
Keep your peepers peeled for further details!
October 6th, 2011
Call For Contributors: The Tote Modern
Mag bags, totes, shoppers – whatever you want to call ‘em, we think they’re the cat’s pyjamas. Between us, the Made in the Shade gals have knocked up a collection of over 30 tote bags in the last few years – and our respective bag bundles continue to grow. We use them as everyday handbags, as shopping bags, as storage solutions and as laundry bags! Oh-so-versatile!
Just like carrying a piece of art on your shoulder, the tote designs you flaunt says a lot about you!
Our shop, The Maisonette, is undoubtedly a dinky space and much to our upset, doesn’t have that dream peg-wall section deveoted to totes we dream of! So. We’ve decided to pay homage to the tote by hosting Glasgow’s first tote bag exhibition.
Taking place on Sunday 30th October (between noon – 6pm) as part of The Glue Factory Launch Weekender, we are fashioning our own DIY pop-up gallery in which to host our dream tote exhibition complete with our own pop-up gallery gift shop.
We are looking to you, dear indie designers, to submit your totes to grace our Tote Modern wall of fame.
Here’s how it works…
1. You send us a pic of the tote you want to submit to the exhibition. You must have designed it yourself, of course. We don’t want your favourite totes you own (that’s a whole different exhibit!) – we want totes you’ve made! Be sure to send yor entry before 5pm on Monday 17th October.
2. Once we’ve collated all the submissions, we’ll pick our very favourites (trying to pick as many as we can fit!) to be included in The Tote Modern. You will receive a confirmation mail to let you know whether your tote bag has been selected for the exhibition.
3. We require you to provide us with no more than 6 tote bags (1 to exhibit on the Tote Modern wall of fame and a few others to sell on the day – though you can submit just 1 to exhibit if you prefer). We must have your tote bags in our mitts no later than Thursday 27th October.
4. We will display your tote bag beautifully in our DIY gallery. We will charge 30% commission on all tote bag sales during the event. All monies due to you will be paid via bank transfer on Tuesday 1st November.
For full T&Cs and to submit your tote bag photograph, email us at: press@wearemadeintheshade.com
How does that sound? Get to it!
August 15th, 2011
Call for Collaborators: [Your Business Name Here] for Made in the Shade
You may have spotted on our blog earlier that we’ve just taken delivery of our flippin’ fabulous new ‘I Belong Tae Glasgow’ tote bag. Designed for us specially by the wonderful Gemma Correll, we hope this brilliant indie design treat is but the first of a new series of exclusive Made in the Shade products. We LOVE it. Thanks Gemma!
Gemma took this snap of the very first edition of the tote. Pretty neat, huh?
Every last product we stock at The Maisonette has either been designed and handmade by super-talented creative people or been designed and ethically produced by the best independent labels around.
We opened our tiny shop in October 2009. In keeping with the ethos of our original Made in the Shade event concept, we wanted to give indie designer makers a permanent retail platform from which to showcase and sell their work. We also wanted to offer our customers in Glasgow an alternative to samey-samey shops and their own little haven where they might escape the moutains of mass produced gifts, rip-off designs and faux handmade novelties taking over some of the stores in our town.
It’s really important for us to always have core collections and labels that no one else stocks locally. As the craze for craft and indie design has become evermore frenzied, we find we need to keep on top of our research and stock sourcing more than ever to ensure we still make our customers eyes pop when they visit our little shop.
So. While we will continue to love and support our very favourite designer makers and we’ll continue to champion emerging talent and indie businesses, we’re branching out a teeny bit. In order to offer our visitors a selection of products they simply will not find anywhere else (ever!), we’re inviting our lovely network of makers to consider designing and making an exclusive Made in the Shade product. Whoopah! :)
Learn more about how we work & hear what our plans are. If you’d like to discuss the possibility of working with us, then please get in touch. Contact Clare and Carrie at: themaisonette@wearemadeintheshade.com