Category: Shop

Small Business Saturday – Edinburgh

Taking place on Saturday 6th December, Small Business Saturday is an initiative to support, inspire and promote small businesses on that date and beyond. This US-imported celebration hopes to give more visibility to the independent retailers that make the streets of each every city more vibrant and interesting.

Now on its second edition in the UK, we’ve wanted to support the campaign featuring some local entrepreneurs that have recently opened their own businesses in Edinburgh. We asked them what they enjoy the most about being a small business and we photographed them outside their stores, but we encourage you to pay them a visit and discover what they have to offer inside!

Richard Conway of Stag Espresso

Richard is the owner of Stag Espresso, an independent café operator with two venues in Edinburgh, Dovecot Café and the recently opened Stag 2 on Victoria St. The new location offers great coffee, cozy interiors and a small magazine shop run by Analogue Books.

“Autonomy is everything but power to choose other small businesses to work with is the best thing about running my own business. A friend who bakes our cakes now supplies cafés across Edinburgh, my dear friend Laura makes the best soup in town and our relationship with Analogue Books at Stag 2 is really important to me.

The second thing is unique to cafés. Standing behind the coffee machine listening to a group of regulars chatting about their week. A group that didn’t know each other until their morning coffee routine synced and now they catch up in their favourite spot every morning. It is the best part of my day, it’s immensely satisfying.”

Warburton Gallery India Buildings, Victoria St.

www.StagEspresso.com

Caroline Walsh of Archipelago Bakery

Caroline opened her own Bakery on Queen St just a couple of months ago. Focusing on natural and organic ingredients, Caroline works with other small businesses and supplies them with a healthier and more honest alternative to industrial bread.

“I am passionate about using organic flour and quality ingredients and making the bread by myself every day. I have done it every single day since I started [start at 5am and finishing at 4pm or sometimes 5pm…] but I love what I do and I have really loyal/wonderful customers who are the biggest reward. I am also trying to add a much healthier slant to all the lunch specials I do as there is a big of an obesity crisis going on in Scotland. I want to be able to do salads that are tasty and healthy but I don’t have the space for this yet.”

39 Queen Street

www.archipelagobakery.co.uk

Stephen Kirkwood of Century General Store

Stephen set up Century General Store a few months ago. This shop in Marchmont sells everyday products – from fresh bread and pastries to provisions, plants and magazines – with the hope to find their place within the strong tradition of independent traders in the area.

“The thing I enjoy most about running my own business is that I can push and test myself in ways you cannot when you are an employee for someone else. It’s a great feeling being able to create something from scratch and watch it grow and see where it takes you.”

100 Marchmont Crescent

www.centurygeneralstore.com

December 3, 2014
E5 Bakehouse London

E5 Bakehouse is an independent, artisan bakery and coffee shop based in East London. Founded in 2012, the bakery is home to a strong team of passionate bakers, chefs and baristas who are committed to a conscious business approach, considering every element of their production process to ensure the produce is both tasty and sustainable.

Our contributor, Mónica R. Goya caught up with Ben Mackinnon, the founder of E5 Bakehouse. Read the interview after the photos.

It all started with you delivering bread to your neighbours once a week, did you expect your business to grow so much?

No, in fact I imagined just baking a couple of days a week by myself, but opening the place up to more people joining in has been a fantastic experience and the product and environment so much richer.

You came up with the idea of starting a bakery while on sabbatical in Spain. What inspired you and was it a difficult decision?

I was looking to find a career I could believe in, something which fused making something by hand with my passion for ecological sustainability. I baked a loaf and a seed was planted. It wasn’t until I was hanging out at a bakery in Fez, Morocco that I thought: this is it!

Were there any other ideas you considered before setting up the Bakehouse?

I was looking at starting a business installing solar panels.

What is a typical day like for you?

There isn’t one. At the bakehouse I am either making bread, teaching people, or spending time with the team.

What is the most difficult about managing a team?

Letting go and trusting in people.

Are there any moments when you miss your consultant job?

Not yet.

What was the most difficult part of establishing your own bakery and how did you learn to make bread?

Taking time to rest, listening to people’s advice, constantly adapting to change.

Does East London influence the spirit of your bakery in any way? Why did you choose a postcode as the name for your business?

Absolutely. Hackney is unique on account of the open minded community who are determined to support small independent businesses. They are savvy consumers here who are choosing to buy local, organic, well priced produce. They recognise that by investing in their community, that community becomes richer in ways which are hard to pin down.

Is there any advice you could give to someone who wants to change career and start their own project?

Take some time to think about it. Start small. Don’t be afraid of failing.

You’re probably not short of ideas so what’s next for E5 Bakehouse?

That’s top secret.

e5bakehouse.com

October 12, 2014
Earl of East London

On our last trip to London we met Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, the founders of Earl of East London. Inspired by their travels and love of beautifully produced vintage homeware, they launched an online shop and market stall in Netil Market a few months ago with an ambition to turn it into a lifestyle brand.

Earl of East London sells a curated mix of vintage curiosities, candles and cacti which combines their passion and interest in seeking out independent businesses producing beautiful objects. Paul says: “I think initially that might sound like a strange mix but I suppose what we are really trying to sell is an eclectic lifestyle, one which is inspired by living in East London, from places we have travelled to and from the media we choose to read. We only stock things that we love and would have in our home”

Currently Earl of East London focus on bringing goods from the US where they spent some time last year. “We particularly love the eclectic mix of businesses and products from California, geographically its well positioned to have so many influences and thats why its such interesting and a hub of creativity. We love how supportive the creative community is of each other there but how they are also very business minded in a way that creatives sometimes struggle with”, Paul adds.

Look out for Paul and Niko and their stall at the Netil Market most weekends, and follow their Instagram, Facebook& Twitter for the newest updates.

earlofeastlondon.com

September 22, 2014
Bookshelf: HOUSE WEAR 2

HOUSE WEAR has launched its second issue at Ditto Press Gallery in London last week. The magazine is published by Many Many, a creative collaboration between Stephanie Poole and Rachel Elliot-Jones who work across art, design, architecture and publishing in Melbourne, Australia.

Following the theme of HOUSE WEAR, a catalogue produced for an exhibition of the same name, which addressed the condition of impermanence in everyday life and its effect on contemporary design, HOUSE WEAR 2 is a study in nomadic behaviour and human design constructs. This issue continues exploring how this relationship affects the way we live and the impact of nomadic behaviour on our perception of house and home.

HOUSE WEAR has brought together several contributors and collaborators from this issue to exhibit core themes within the publication such as self-sufficiency and survival. Work by Berlin based artist Rachel de Joode, furniture by London based Nicholas Gardner and Sasa Stucin, and other concepts exploring notions of nomadic behaviour, omni-use tools, breadcessories by E5 Bakehouse and makeshift forms were exhibited alongside copies of HOUSE WEAR.

The launch was produced by London-based curators and art directors Beata Wilczek and Joss Debae.

We’re giving away two copies of HOUSE WEAR 2. Scroll down to enter our Rafflecopter giveaway and find out more.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

August 6, 2014
Insecta Shoes

Pamela Magpali and Barbara Mattivy are the founders of Insecta Shoes, a Brazilian shoe label transforming fabrics and prints from vintage clothing into vegan footwear.

Insecta Shoes‘ Oxford shoes and Chelsea boots are made in Brazil, handcrafted in limited numbers and every single model is unique.

To find out more about this innovative enterprise, we asked its founders about their background, the manufacturing process and the future of Insecta Shoes.

Photos by Miguel Soll

What made you start your own shoe label? What was your background before Insecta?

I worked in fashion and digital marketing for years, and also ran an online vintage store. Pamela is a shoe designer and she had her own shoe label for one year. One day we met and we both loved each other products, so we talked about creating a collaboration between both brands. I had some really over sized vintage shorts and blazers that had amazing prints but I never had the time to adjust the sizes, so she suggested we could make shoes out of these clothes. I absolutely loved the idea, and that is how our 1st collaboration was born. Everything sold very well, and we did a second one, that was even a bigger hit.

I was moving to Canada and needed someone to help me manage my business in Brazil, so we partnered and created Insecta Shoes. We launched in January 2014 and everything is going super well. We’re growing organically but pretty fast, which is great but scary at the same time.

We’re interested in knowing a little more about the process you follow to design and manufacture your shoes. could you tell us about it?

Sure! The video below illustrates how everything is done. First, we design the shoe and create a real sample from it. We test it, tweak and adjust, and them approve it. This is what Pamela does while I’m sourcing and hand picking all the clothes from vintage suppliers. Then we deconstruct the clothes by hand and back them with a thicker fabric. All the raw materials go to our little atelier and they produce the shoes according to our combination of design, prints and colors of soles and lining.

Insecta Shoes by Volt Project from Insecta Shoes on Vimeo.

How do you source the clothes you use to manufacture your shoes?

They’re all handpicked at vintage suppliers or vintage/thrift stores in North America. It’s cool because sometimes we find really great prints in clothes that have a terrible fitting and probably no one else would wear them – we give a new use for that piece of clothing. We love this part of the production process because we have so much fun hunting for prints, it’s also very nostalgic. Once we found a cook/chef pair of trousers with an amazing vegetables print, we went nuts! Eggplants, cabbage, tomatoes, all over!

All your shoes are unique. Have you worked with a print/fabric that you wish you could have used for more shoes?

Yes, definitely! It’s a pro and a con to have such exclusive shoes. There are fabrics that we were able to produce 3 pairs with and that’s it. We wish we had the best ones for each of us and for our customers, but it’s impossible. But the great part of it it’s that no one else in the world will have the same shoes as you, not even the slightest chance for this to happen!

Have you thought about expanding Insecta shoes to other type of products?

Yes, absolutely. We have tons of ideas coming up in the next months, for the shoes and for other products. We can’t tell much right now, but there are amazing things on the way 😉

July 6, 2014