This month Business Minds talks to Jayne Croft, Anna Boston, Sorrel Watts and Tara Toomey from The Pop-Up Store. The Pop-Up Store showcases handmade products from the New England area and is representative of the growing handmade community in our region.
Describe “The Pop-Up Store”.
We are a group of locals who come together a few times a year to showcase some of the best handmade and unique products from the New England in one retail store. We love working alongside other makers across the region, and the local community has been very supportive of our collaboration.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Jayne: My small hobby bloomed rather rapidly into Calamity Jayne when I needed a creative outlet after having my fourth baby in 2012. I’m grateful for the support and encouragement I’ve had from friends, family and locals and the ability to work around my family’s needs and health. I also work with my husband, Michael, in our small business, so life is full.
Anna: I work full-time in digital marketing but have always had creative projects on the side. I started with a small market stall selling screen printed singlets with a friend at uni and set up The Eclective in early 2012 as a jewellery stall. About two years ago, I joined the Armidale Pottery Club and have been making porcelain jewellery ever since.
Tara: I have a few irons in the fire, including Aurelia’s Farm B&B, which opened in 2012 and The Humble Cook (which started under a different name in 2004) — making this my 15th year of making nougat. I also run Seasons of New England and the New Englander Rail Experience (launching 2020). I’m married to the lovely Andrew Toomey and have two wonderful children, Jacob (10) and Helena (7).
Sorrel: I’ve always had something creative on the go. After my son was born in 2013, I couldn’t find any fun, colourful, practical clothes (with pockets!) so started making them myself. After requests from friends, and friends of friends, Peg Leg Frida was born, based from my dining room table and growing to take over the house. I juggle this with studying speech pathology and am lucky to be supported by my amazing partner Adam and our two kids.
How did you all meet?
Jayne: It was love at first sight! Ha ha! Actually, we had come across each other briefly before, but The Pop-Up Store was the first time we collaborated. After a couple of stores, we found our groove and drew on our individual strengths to really make a great team. In the process, we have gained friends (and a very active group chat!) as well.
What led you to start the Pop-Up Store?
Anna: Jayne put on a Christmas market in her living room in 2013, to give makers a chance to show off their talent, and everyone a chance to buy handmade and local products. I went as a customer and loved the idea, so when Jayne put on a follow-up event a fortnight later in her driveway, I jumped at the invite. From the success of those informal events (and realising moving a living room of furniture was unsustainable long term!), we took the plunge in February 2014 and rented a shop in the mall for our first “The Pop-Up Store”.
What is your philosophy?
We want to give local side-hustles, market stalls and creatives working from home exposure in a retail space. We love that we get to showcase the diversity of talent in the New England, and also give the community a chance to buy locally, direct from the seller. We strive to curate a quality and diverse range for each store, with a focus on handmade.
What was your biggest challenge starting out?
The time commitment for Pop-Up is massive — especially on top of our own business, work and family needs. But we’ve worked out a pretty good system of “dividing and conquering” the jobs between the four of us.
Any advice for a business (particularly one that is part of the growing handmade community) just starting out?
Tara: I would suggest lots of experimenting on trusted friends with your product before taking it somewhere for sale. Once I’d decided to sell my nougat and fruit cakes, I regularly went to our local farmers’ markets — it was great to have the interaction with customers and to see their reactions to the product too. It’s key to spend plenty of time on branding and presentation, and be prepared to make mistakes and start again!
What’s coming up?
Our focus right now is our Xmas Pop-Up! We are open every day from Wednesday 4th December to Sunday 15th December, in the Armidale Plaza (opposite Target), including weekends and a few late nights. We have 14 local makers selling jewellery, ceramics, hampers, soy candles, skincare, jerky, confectionery, clothing, homewares, jams and relishes, and of course, make-your-own gin kits!
Opening hours, info about our stallholders and future stores can be found on our socials: Facebook — The Pop-Up Store; Instagram — The.Pop.Up.Store.Armidale.
Thank you, Jayne, Anna, Sorrel and Tara.
