Craftree Haus is a new division of Upcycle Exchange that encompasses the handmade boutique, maker lab, shared studio, classes, and events at our big new location on Grand Boulevard! The supply store area of Upcycle Exchange is now open for business and we’ve nearly completed the remodel of the entire space. Pretty soon you’ll start seeing sections of our expansion beginning to fill out.

The first area we are concentrated on is the handmade boutique at the front of the building, which we plan to launch in January 2012. After that, we’ll start planning classes, events, and raising money to buy equipment for our maker lab! So, first thing’s first, we are inviting crafters to show us their stuff that they would like to sell here. If you would be interested in consigning, we are not *requiring* that your inventory be upcycled, mostly we are looking for great design, but at least having some elements of upcycling is a plus! You can see more details and fill out our application through the link below:

Application to Consign at Craftree Haus

The deadline for our first round of consignment applications is January 5th, 2012. We’ll open it up again periodically after that. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out The Upcycle Exchange at 3206 S. Grand Boulevard Tuesday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-8, and Sundays 12-4!

So! …Upcycle Exchange will be open for your craft supply needs through Saturday, November 27th (but closed for Thanksgiving, of course), then will be closed to move everything out and finish up the remodel. We estimate our re-opening day on 3206 South Grand to be within the first week of December. We will be sure to let you know through every channel available to us when we have a confirmed date for re-opening. Our hours from then on will change remain the same, except that we will be open later on Saturday nights (till 8pm).

We are really excited for all the possibilities in this fantastic new location that we are planning: a handmade consignment shop, craft classes, shared studio space and a high-end equipment lab. It will all come together in the next few months, but for now, a bigger, better Upcycle Exchange is just around the corner!

As I spent more and more of my time sorting, I contemplated what to do next. Should we apply to be a non-profit? I just didn’t good reason to add a level of bureaucracy to this beautifully efficient and inexpensive operation. I have always felt that it shouldn’t get really big; it should multiply, but at what point does the cell divide? I stumbled across an intriguing term in my research for creative new business models -”open-source franchise.”  I was bent on sharing our operating procedures from the beginning, but this is a program where, it appears, that one or a few people end up doing the work. The member artisans naturally concentrate on making merchandise and promoting their micro-brands. Not to dismiss that groups of artisans exist who would be delegate tasks successfully and maintain their Upcylce Exchange as a “club.” I just suspect this would be a rare scenario.  Ultimately, if those doing the work of organizing/promoting collections and sorting are few, they should have the opportunity to be modestly reimbursed. Thus, Upcycle naturally matures into a retail store.

I am approaching this endeavor delicately:

1. The member artisan system should remain intact. I still want to collect the specific supplies they are looking for and reserve a space for each artist’s unique requests; separated from general supply merchandise. The donor coupons and member merchandise discounts would continue.
2. The initial pricing system will mimic up-and-coming social enterprises where customers are given a suggested price, but may pay what they feel the merchandise is worth to them or whatever they can afford. I hope this gives low-income patrons the opportunity to acquire supplies that they could otherwise not afford, and that those more fortunate will help to subsidize. There are also varying values of items across the spectrum of bulk and weight. If we sell “by-the-bag” I don’t think you should be obligated to pay as much for a bunch of coffee cans as you would  for a bag of vintage jewelry. Likewise, weight is not a good indicator as scrap metal, wood, etc. may be in dire condition, but heavy. As most of our inventory will be donated items, there will be no need for wholesale mark-up.
3. I will place 10% of sales in a fund dedicated to acquiring mass-customization equipment for co-op craft workspaces in St. Louis. New and developing technology, such as 3D printers and laser cutters, will not only significantly expand the functionality,  aesthetic, and efficient fabrication of upcycled indie merchandise, but extend potential to even more obscure forms of post-consumer refuse.
4. I am opting to join up with a complementary non-profit to split a space with. We’ll be able to get more space for our money, and benefit each other in many other ways. I’m very happy to be working with Perennial, a budding NPO that aims to open a community workshop and store that offers educational programming in creative reuse to diverse populations and sells creatively repurposed home furnishings and eco-friendly supplies for reuse projects.

We hope to open our location in late Spring or early Summer. Until then, Upcycle itself is in a bit of limbo. Peridot (the boutique we are housed in), switched locations last month, and packed up and moved with them. Knowing that we are moving again so soon has put a bit of a damper on getting everything out of the boxes and sorting out onto shelves like we had been doing at the previous location. We are still accepting donations, and artists are still able to come get supplies. We are just trying our best to spread things out and making it easy to “treasure hunt” rather than sorting extensively at this time.

I debated on whether to go ahead with Spring Open Enrollment, but have kept things at a throttle with current members. Due to high demand, and the fact that we do have a lot of great supplies for the taking(even if they are bit unorganized right now), I have decided to go ahead and accept new members for Spring, and will keep applications up until February 17th. The deal is that, for now, there is no membership fee, we just ask that members contribute a small sum to our Paypal account if they find a worthwhile amount of supplies when they visit. You will be given entrance to our collection as soon as you get your app in, but the new Wish-list will not be out till March 1st. I am doing my best to keep an eye out for unique requests and notify members  when I come across something they asked for!

Development continues on a new Upcycle site that will be capable facilitating the formation of new groups and automating/aggregating their Wish-lists, discounts and other essential digital elements of the program.  As a website developer with over a decade of experience, I can say that this is my most challenging project to date, but I’m enjoying the process and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  You will be notified the minute we go Alpha!

Finally, thank you so much for all your support. From donors to volunteers, and media outlets. Recently , we won 2nd place overall, and 1st in the Recycling category of Make: Magazine’s Green Project Contest with 840 votes!  Also, I was recognized as Upcycle’s founder in February’s ALIVE Magazine on the 2011 Buzz List for St. Louis. One thing’s for sure, this project is going places; most importantly, to a town near you soon, if you don’t live in St. Louis. ;)

Strange Folk Festival
September 25th-26th 2010
10a.m.-6p.m.
Community Park
O’Fallon, IL
FREE ADMISSION

One great thing about Upcycling at Strange Folk is that you can redeem your Upcycle Coupon Passport with many vendors in-person at the show! We will be passing out a map of discounts to anyone that donates at the show, but here’s the rundown of participating Upcyclers: Sparrow Studios, Strung Out & Wired , Hypercraftive, Caitydid,  A.D.D. Creative, Breaking Reality, August Love, Just Liv, Articles by Teresa, The Science Faire, Doxy Dame, Senora Muertos, and Stick to Your Knittin’ Kitten – wow! On top of awesome indie shopping (150 vendors), There will be 8 amazing indie pop and rock bands,hands-on activities and exhibits for kids, and lots of fun food! Drop off your Upcycle donations at the horseshoe pit behind the big pavilion to get your coupon and discount map.

We have a NEW wish-list too! It’s pretty similar to our Summer version, so if you’ve been saving stuff from that, it’s all good, and we still honor all prior requests, updating the list is just a way for us to begin to phase items out.

(WishList-Fall2010.pdf)

If you can’t make it to Strange Folk…

Click here to find a drop-off location near you!

We have 5 new locations near downtown STL, Crestwood Plaza, St. Charles, and Belleville, IL!

Recycled Art Class: Moss Terrariums – $20

Tuesday, June 15th: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday, June 24th: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

With Artist and Coordinator of Upcycle Exchange Autumn Wiggins
Come create an enclosed indoor garden while learning proper assembly and care techniques from an experienced terrarium maker. These beautiful, low-maintenance biospheres are unique and inexpensive to craft for your own use or for a gift! Bring up to three clear glass or plastic enclosures less than a foot wide at the base that have metal, glass, or plastic lids. Other necessary materials will be provided, but you may also bring small props made of plastic, porcelain, or non-rusting metal to use in your terrarium.

Register at the store, or at the customer service desk by calling 314-968-7744.

Then, I create another document with catagory headings. This is the fun part (I think) where I get to organize all the items, keeping the color-coding intact so everything can be cross-referenced. I make sure to group similar requests by separate artists together. I think a dozen people asked for buttons this time around. So, when I compile a third time  for the “nice” list that you download, popular items like that will appear in larger text to indicate more than one person asked for them. Sort of like a tag cloud, and that’s really all there is to it prep-wise aside from making coupons, promoting like crazy, and dressing our table at the shows. Having these color-coded lists makes it much easier to sort when people bring us donations!

Another tidbit: if you are thinking of starting an Upcycle Exchange in your area, try to think of a different name! Thing is, I’d like to see these programs sprout up independently and have the flexibility to form their own entity that is suited for their locality. There won’t be any trademark issues, and you’ll have more creative and financial freedom for your program. We  just want to provide you with everything you’d need to get started, and you will be welcome and encouraged to use the “U” symbol as part of your logo or on promo materials so there is cohesive recognition of what we are doing.

I hope that gives you an idea where we are headed with expanding the program globally. As for the Lou…drop-off off locations are the next step, and we hope to have that figured out by early fall!