It's time to pivot!

Howdy weirdos,

Over the past several months, we have done some reflecting on what's been working and what has not, and how all of that aligns with our dedication to functioning as responsibly as possible while we all live through this pandemic. Back in July 2020 when we reopened after the initial lockdowns in LA, I made a promise to myself that I would do my absolute best to stay open as responsibly as possible until the holidays in the hopes that things might have time to get better, and maybe society would have time to get COVID19 under control.

Well, the holidays came and went and they were not good for the weird art retail gallery business. The frustrating part is that this time last year, January through the first two weeks of March was our most financially successful time in business ever. I finally felt like I had created something that was truly working. Collectors were collecting and our in-person workshops and classes were booming.

After the pandemic hit, I didn't bring back in-person workshops and classes, because I just did not feel it was the most responsible thing to do.

So over the last few months, I have been researching, planning, and developing new classes and workshops that I will be offering online only, and I will be pivoting our entire business to an online only model. I am much more comfortable carefully packing my art up and shipping it to you, as opposed to asking you to come to a physical indoor space to collect my work while we are still trying to safely navigate this pandemic.

I am also working diligently to update the website, and bring you all kinds of new artworks and product designs!

I know this goes against everything I just wrote, but I still have a tone of t-shirts, socks, neckties, hoodies, scarves and all kinds of other apparel in stock at the store, if any of you are comfortable with coming in over the next two weekends to collect some stuff at a huge discount, that would be amazing. Please remember that masks are absolutely required in the market, and I have total plexiglass shield covering around my retail kiosk, so we can do this as safely as possible.

I will be in the market, Saturday through Sunday from 2PM - 6PM this coming weekend and next weekend. I will be backing up the shop and hibernating it in storage beginning in February, so this will be our last month at Crafted for the foreseeable future. We will be reassessing things once COVID19 is under control.

Thanks again for all your support these past 3 years.

Sorry we have to pack it up...for now.

-Brian