Author: Lisa Jones-Tomassini
Published: 09/17/2021
We finally found the spot!
Our shop as a physical space comes from humble beginnings. We started in a small workshop in Petaluma and several years later we moved to a home workshop. Over the years, we’ve showed at art parties, street fairs, pop-ups, outdoor markets, makerspaces, festivals, and fashion shows. While we have found so much joy and inspiration in the history of what we've done as a brand, we are also so excited to be making the transition to our next chapters.
During the summer of 2011, we started working in a small workshop in Petaluma. It was a small co-op space that we shared with a cabinetry business, a metal shop, a painter, a vintage bicycle refurbisher and a mixed media large sculptor. We were so excited to be a part of such a diverse group and ended up making lifelong friends!
In 2013 my husband Ron and I bought a house in Novato with the aim of fixing up the house. The shop moved into the garage so we could work on the house and the business. There were pros and cons to having the shop at home... Work more, commute less (the whole six steps rarely presented any traffic - maybe a cat on a congested day), affordable rent and totally flex hours.
Of course, there were also some challenges and random things pulling my attention, like renovation, children, pets, and customers “popping” in at all times... sometimes it was awkward.
We’ve had a home workshop for 8 yrs., and have outgrown it! In 2016 ish we started looking for a commercial workshop to buy. We looked online, we drove around Novato, Point Richmond, Alameda, Vallejo, Petaluma, Sonoma and Napa. In January 2021, Ron found an interesting looking property online. It was sort of within our distance range and definitely within our price range.
On the day of Ron's birthday, January 20th, we took a drive north to “get out of the house” and peep the town where the building was located... Lakeport. The drive was fun (we antiqued along the way!) and we arrived at the building by mid morning. The realtor's name and phone number were on the sign, so we gave him a call, and by a very random chance he was in town that day… He came to show us the building. It was interesting. At the time the space was allocated entirely as offices. The layout was quirky and a bit awkward but still held a certain charm. Because it was in our price range, but really on the outskirts of our ideal distance range, we thought maybe we could buy the building and rent it out as investment property.
However, the more we worked on the building and spent time around town, the more we fell in love with the community, the space, and the location. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to build our concept of a retail workshop combination. Our business model is not a traditional retail/sales concept and our production is not fast fashion. Because of that we are able to be totally vertically integrated in this one space! Our number one priority when we were looking for a space was for the space itself to have a cool vibe and for the surroundings to inspire the next chapters we will embark on.
On the day of Ron's birthday, January 20th, we took a drive north to “get out of the house” and peep the town where the building was located... Lakeport. The drive was fun (we antiqued along the way!) and we arrived at the building by mid morning. The realtor's name and phone number were on the sign, so we gave him a call, and by a very random chance he was in town that day… He came to show us the building. It was interesting. At the time the space was allocated entirely as offices. The layout was quirky and a bit awkward but still held a certain charm. Because it was in our price range, but really on the outskirts of our ideal distance range, we thought maybe we could buy the building and rent it out as investment property.
However, the more we worked on the building and spent time around town, the more we fell in love with the community, the space, and the location. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to build our concept of a retail workshop combination. Our business model is not a traditional retail/sales concept and our production is not fast fashion. Because of that we are able to be totally vertically integrated in this one space! Our number one priority when we were looking for a space was for the space itself to have a cool vibe and for the surroundings to inspire the next chapters we will embark on.
We made an offer, had the inspectors out, and signed the paperwork.
If you can't find us.... it's because we're working on the space. We're so excited for you to see what's coming next!! We'll be sharing as we go.
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