In Gratitude

It is with mixed emotions that I have come to the decision to close the doors at Make Art Supplies at the end of December.

Much thought and debate has gone into making this decision. I don’t take it lightly. This art supply store was part of a bigger dream that I have held for many many years to build a cooperative community of creative people.

The decision to close was the result of many factors, not just one event. The issues that have arisen of late that affect the Pajama Factory and brought the safety of the building into question were not the reason to close but they were the catalyst that brought all of the other factors to the forefront. Let me say that the factory is very safe and will continue being an asset to the community for years to come.

The saying that no publicity is bad publicity may be true but we saw immediate effects of the publicity that surrounded the information, both factual and speculative, that was flying around at the time. This event gave me a moment to pause. I paused the grand expansion we were deep into, I paused our open hours because we weren’t seeing any volume of activity and I took time. Time to think and consider some of the information that I have gathered since that decision I made at the beginning of ‘22 to bring this store to our community.

Factors; brick and mortar art supply stores are struggling, big box stores and online sales are shutting down small businesses in this industry just like every other. This knowledge came to me shortly after opening and though I was dealing with the loss of my spouse just 2 months after opening the doors to the store, and all of the ramifications of that loss, I was already thinking of what could be done to supplement the art supplies that would remain the backbone of the store. For such a young business it has gone through many metamorphosis in its short life. The plan to expand the square footage, to offer workshop and classroom space for local crafters and artists to teach and to include creative maker spaces was the result of the information regarding the future of art supply stores that I was gathering from my distributors and representatives in the art and craft world. The creation of our new teacher portal was also a part of what I believed, and still believe could be another answer for the store’s survival and an enormous asset to the community.

So why walk away now? My decision is both personal and professional.The state of the industry from my vantage point; my sales rep from my main distributor, the biggest art supply distributor in the US informed me that they had one of the worst back to school seasons (art supplies biggest season) in ‘24 than they’ve had in years, their August/September sales numbers were close to their slowest months from ‘23. One of my other distributors informed me that they had stopped attending the art supply trade shows, not worth it he said, they attend ComicCons instead.

My spouse, who ran two very successful businesses of their own, used to say “ Oh if I were just 20 years younger…the things I could do with these companies etc.” My response was always, “You’re never too old” and I still believe that but I have found that there does come a time, at least for me, when I don’t want to push a rock up hill, when I don’t need to grow something new but can enjoy and appreciate what has already grown. That is the stage I am in now and I’m looking forward to what that will look like. I inherited a very nice Winnebego camper van. I think it’s time to put it to use and go see more of what’s out there.

It is with the deepest gratitude to everyone who ever walked through the doors of Make Art Supplies and to all of my family and friends that have supported this dream that I will close this chapter of my life.

Love, Concetta Owens