Why Shop Local?

The economic benefits of supporting your local businesses is undeniable. For every $100 spent in a local business $45 remains in the community, whereas for every $100 spent at a big national retailer only $14 stays in the community. Your local businesses advertise locally, use local repair people, bank locally, buy from local manufacturers/craftspeople/artists, support local charities, etc... These numbers while they vary a bit by region have been supported all over the country including a Midcoast Maine Study that also discovered that by supporting locally owned businesses rather than big box stores it would be the equivalent of adding 500 jobs to the community.

So here comes the plug...support Monkitree (especially this Christmas season). If you do, you are not only supporting a single local business... Monkitree represents artist/craftspeople from Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittson, Litchfield, Augusta, Monmouth, and more. So what are you likely to find here? A range of products to be sure- jewelry, pottery, hand-carved wooden spoons,turned wood bowls, woven scarves and placemats, rolling pins, magnets, cards and fine art.

The next show is going to be a fun one. So come out to the Opening Reception and see all that Monkitree has to offer. Oh and if you are following my blog from elsewhere, I am happy to ship to you :)


Additional reading material on supporting local business from Time,Businessweek and the Wall Street Journal.

Good Days

So what makes a day good? It was miserably hot here in Gardiner, Maine yesterday. All of my friends in the DC area won't believe me but it was much like DC weather complete with air quality warnings. There were virtually no customers and in fact the only people who stopped into the shop my dog Bo managed to scare away. But for me it was an exciting day. First I had Dennis Curtis stop by with his turned bowls and bottle stoppers and I was able to pick out nine beautiful turned bowls. Next Mary Kay Spencer stopped by with more pottery and she was able to enjoy the air conditioning for a while and we had a nice chat.

But in the background while all this was going on was a looming deadline. Were we going to make it? In addition to having the gallery I am President of Gardiner Main Street. We had an event idea and Kara Wilbur, the owner of Sweet Love and Secretary of Gardiner Main Street had done all the leg work but we needed to raise $7,000 to feel comfortable going before city council and asking for the event approval. That is a lot of money to raise in a recession and we didn't have much time to do it. I admit I had my doubts. Kara was running around all afternoon right up to the council meeting and managed to raise $6,550. Enough for us to feel comfortable that we could cover the upfront costs of the event. So we went into council and it was unanimously approved! The Mayor went to far as to say that Gardiner Main Street was managing to raise the bar at every turn. So save the date people- October 2nd Gardiner, Maine is going to be the place to be for the first annual Swine and Stein Octoberfest! Maine beers, Maine pork from Maine restaurants and producers, and live music. Beer, pork and music. Now that will be a good day!

Writing While Angry

It is probably not a good idea for me to read the comments section on newspaper articles. I find the comment sections are frequented by people who abhor change and enjoy maligning every idea presented. Yesterday there were two articles in the Kennebec Journal about the town of Gardiner- one about the possibility of turning Water Street into a two-way street and the other about contaminated soil found while redeveloping the waterfront park. Neither of these seem like emotionally charged issues to me.

The two-way street article was about including the idea in the city plan so it can be researched, discussed and appropriate public process can take place. There was one comment in particular that caught my attention because it seemed to be about me since I am the only person not from Maine who has opened a business downtown... unless they are lumping in anyone not from Gardiner. It reads-

"The truth is that the central Maine market is just limited. A lot of these people who move here don't seem to understand this...there's just not a lot of money in the area to spend on frills. Gardiner may develop over the years. But some of these people who move to Maine with their little artsy vision of what they'd like it to be need to shut up, listen and learn."

What should I learn from? The other commenter who said that Gardiner is a relic of the past? Or the ones who refuse to walk a block? I prefer to do some research and listen to people who have. I listen to the people who have talked to the Department of Transportation to see if it is feasible (and by the way it is). Of course that doesn't mean it will happen...just that it is something we can talk about like grown adults. As for my artsy vision, I am selling (and yes I did say selling) the work of people from Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittston, Litchfield and many other towns in Maine. And I will bring to Gardiner art and craft that has never been sold locally. And ultimately I will offer the works online to a much larger market (since my business plan has already taken into account the "central Maine market").

Just yesterday a couple came in because they had heard what I was doing here. They found Gardiner to be charming. They loved the buildings and wanted to talk about my experiences moving here and buying a building. I told them what I truly believe- that Gardiner is a great town, an undiscovered gem that will become so much more than it is. That my friends is what will help Gardiner...people who see potential.

Support Gardiner Businesses-
Corniche, Sweet Love and Baxter Tea Co., A1 Diner, A1 To Go, Moda Bella, Raggamuffins, Blue Sky Bakery, The Mad Dog, Bagel Mainea, Reny's, The Girltrend Shop, The Depot, Mike's Water Street Grille, Gerard's Pizza, Dennis' Pizza, Johnson Hall, and more.

Slow Change

While we have a vision for what we are hoping to accomplish with our gallery/shop and building, we will be making slow and deliberate changes. I gave myself a deadline of this Friday evenings Artwalk to accomplish two things- a card rack and a display table. Sounds easy enough... if what we were doing was buying a card rack and a display table but instead we are building/creating them. We want to create a unique experience for people when they come into Monkitree- a mix of modern and traditional. Unique objects in a unique space. We painted a panel bright green and attached Lucite shelves to display cards. For the table we are using an antique bed frames that came from a hotel in Rumson, NJ where I grew up.

We are also bringing in new merchandise slowly but surely. The art work changes every two months but new craft, cards and jewelry will be added gradually as money and display space permits. There is sure to be something new and interesting to discover every time someone visit Monkitree.

Shop Monkitree Online

The plan for opening our gallery/shop in Gardiner, Maine has always had a web-based sales component. Without the funds to do exactly what I want which is having the website and my point of sale system linked, I am doing what I can. At this point it means designing my website and adding paypal buttons for each item. I spent the past two days loading images and adding buttons for 13 photographs by Dave Engledow. Sounds easy enough...except for each image there are two sizes and three different options (print only, matted print, or framed and matted). Phew! Am I glad that is done. Now I can get on to simple items that have one button associated with them. Jewelry and pottery will go quickly...as soon as I take pictures of them all. Back to work!

Discover Gardiner, Maine

When I have appointments here with artists about showing their work in Monkitree, they often make comments about how they had no idea we had such a cute downtown. People come by our downtown all the time but miss it by turning on Bridge Street or Maine Avenue. But right here in downtown Gardiner we have all sorts of treasures- Moda Bella (a high end dress shop), Sweet Love/Baxter Tea Co (cupcakes, tea and consignment wedding dresses), The Art Dogs/Circle in the Square Fine Art Press, The Mad Dog Pub, A1 Diner, The Depot, Mystic Maine Quilts and of course Reny's. We also have beautiful historic buildings and an amazing waterfront that is undergoing a renovation.

We also have great events throughout the year. The next one is Go Go Gardiner Car Show and Sock Hop the evening of August 7th. Water Street will be lined with antique cars, the dancers from R&B Dance studio will perform and there will be a DJ playing classic music. Next up is the Artwalk on August 13th- local artist will have their work in empty spaces and shop storefronts. So the next time you are in the vicinity of Gardiner, take the time to walk up and down Water Street...and don't forget to stop in and say hi!

Join Us!

Every couple of months we will be holding an opening reception for a new show. Tomorrow July 23rd will be the opening for Plastic Fantastic: The Art of the Toy Camera. I am as excited about this show as I was about our grand opening show with Michael Sprouse. I hope I am this excited about every show (to tell you the truth I get excited when any package shows up containing jewelry, cards, etc. so I don't expect that to change). Carol Dronsfield and I had a nice visit when she came to drop off her photographs. We talked about all sorts of things in our brief visit- cost of living, freelance work, making big changes. Right now I am waiting on Kevin Brusie to drop off his work. Sounds like he needs to get on his way to Bangor but it looks like he will be able to attend the opening reception which is awesome. Then this afternoon, Dave Engledow will arrive with his work. At that point I need to work on labels, printed materials and eventually hanging the show. I am expecting a couple of fun and full days.

In the spirit of the show I purchased a single use red flash Lomolitos to take pictures with during the reception. I am also going to be giving away a Diana camera to one of our customers. It is the type of camera Dave Engledow used for all of his photographs for this show. There are a few people who stop in regularly to say how much they want to win the camera. I guess the camera give away is doing its job in building excitement for this show. I hope you all can join us or at least come by while the show is hanging.
Ok...so back to work!