Gather Goods Co

When it’s a million degrees outside but you need to stock up on your stay inside in the AC supplies ☀️ We’re open in-person every Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5pm at our downtown Cary shop and online anytime.

I gave a video interview today and one of the questions was “what advice do I give artists when pitching to a store?” And I said that a commonly overlooked piece is reciprocity. And what I mean by that is that acknowledging that a shop is also a small business themselves, and that supporting them is part of the ecosystem of creating a space where maker made goods are accepted and bought and consumed by others and that they too need the support and that they’re not just there to benefit you. I always think that that reciprocity component of learning about one another, learning about the products that really work in that store, is super helpful. And while I don’t have time to give extensive feedback to everyone that asks, I probably would if they did. It’s way more beneficial to ask for feedback first and start developing a relationship and learning what works for that particular store than just cold calling and sending them a pitch without that homework. Ultimately shop owners are curators and collectors and storytellers of objects but also they are business people and shelf space is expensive. I don’t have too much space to just test out if something’s gonna work or not although I do have some space for that. I’d rather take a chance on somebody that I knew aligned with my business across many facets versus somebody that’s just cold pitching a bunch of businesses without that relational aspect. One key tip is to obviously go into the store and frequent it if you’re local: you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours sort of concept, but also helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem that relies on many parts, but if you’re not local to go to their website and understand what their store and story is about. Really think about how your product and work fits into that and when you pitch your product (ideally via email) but a mailer works great as well, do it thoughtfully, so it aligns with their vision and yours. If you succeed in their store, then they succeed, and vice versa.

Stocking and restocking the shop shelves with beautiful, giftable items each week so you always have the perfect gift to give. We’re open I’m-person every Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5pm and online anytime.