So we’ve just said goodbye to our fourth pop up display of 2024! We regularly partner with talented local artists, illustrators and makers to give them the opportunity to showcase their work with us by taking over part of our shop window. It’s something we’ve been doing for the last three years now but this year it’s been a real focus of mine. So far it’s been working really well and our customers are really enjoying being able to buy from new artisans and see their cute window displays.
Our pop up displays always run for a very limited time, we usually plan for them to be in-situ for between two and three weeks, but it really depends on availability and if there are any special occasions we want to coincide with.
I absolutely love having pop up displays in – it’s an amazing way for us trial the creations of new artisans to see how popular they are with our lovely customers and if they’re something we’d want to sell in the shop in the future. It also gives us the chance to try lots of new products and designs from some of our existing makers too.
They are also an unique opportunity for the small businesses we partner with – I always say they can be as creative as they like with the space and I really want them to showcase their brand and handmade products. It’s a chance for them to show their work in a physical shop window in a busy town centre and hopefully reach lots of new customers and make lots of sales!
So who was our 4th pop up of the year?
So we’ve just said goodbye to Lisa Swift Illustrations, she came down to the shop earlier this week to breakdown her lovely window display. Lisa messaged me on Instagram earlier this year to enquire about doing a pop up display and I definitely didn’t hesitate in saying yes! I was actually really excited about Lisa’s pop up display – not only was everything totally new to us as we’d never sold her work before, she was also creating some brand new designs, inspired by places local to Ashbourne, especially for us.
Lisa is pretty local to Ashbourne, she’s only about a half an hour drive away. She lives and works in Chesterfield in North Derbyshire. It’s a small world, Lisa also owns a handmade gift shop with her husband John called Shop Indie, which is based in Chesterfield town centre. They’ve been running their lovely bricks and mortar shop for just under five years now as they first opened back in October 2019. Similarly to us they sell lots of incredible greeting cards and unique gifts from over 150 British independent makers and designers.
After running her handmade shop for a year or so, Lisa had a creative itch that she really needed to scratch. She was starting to feel like she was stuck in a bit of a rut and was getting a little bored with what she was creating. She hadn’t drawn anything for years but during the pandemic when she had a little more time for herself she discovered digital drawing and absolutely loved it!
Lisa takes a lot of her inspiration from the local area – how could you not be inspired by the beautiful Peak District and Derbyshire landscapes? With Lisa’s beautiful gift shop being based slightly more north than us, a lot of her existing designs were of the High Peak and North Derbyshire rather than places near to Ashbourne, so she decided to create some brand new illustrations especially for the pop up display. Lisa made sure she did lots of research on the local area and discovered some hidden gems and tourist favourites.
Lisa created four unique designs for her pop up shop window display:
- St John Street in Ashbourne Town Centre
- Hartington Signal Box
- Tissington
- Tissington Trail
Lisa has her amazing artwork printed on lots of different products, so we had something for everyone and every budget. We had a huge range of postcards, greeting cards, fridge magnets, bookmarks, coasters, ceramic mugs, A4 wall art prints and A3 wall art prints. Just like us, Lisa is a huge believer in shopping small so she always tries to seek out other small businesses who can print her products for her.
During the pop up display, Lisa used some interesting magnetic print hangers to showoff her wall art prints. These are actually made by another business Lisa owns called Altered Chic. Lisa and her husband first set up this small business back in 2009 and this was the very start of their creative journey. The magnetic print hangers were made from American maple veneered MDF and came in two different styles and three different sizes. She made them with a sharp straight edge or a lovely scalloped edge and we had sizes to fit A4 portrait prints, A4 landscape prints / A3 portrait prints and A3 landscape prints.
If you didn’t get chance to pop and visit the shop to see Lisa’s pop up display, here’s a quick video to show you how amazing it looked!
So what sold best during the pop up display?
Over the three weeks we hosted Lisa’s pop up display, we sold a really interesting mix of designs and products but there were definitely a few standouts! Product wise, there was a very clear best seller – coasters were by far the most popular purchase! We sell a lot of coasters in the shop all year around so it didn’t come as a shock to me that they were a firm favourite. I always think coasters are a nice thing to treat yourself to when you’re away on holiday or out for the day visiting one of your favourite places. They’re something practical you can use everyday and when you’re enjoying your morning cuppa they’ll bring back lovely memories of the time you spent there – so I’m not surprised that they sold so well.
Design wise, the Salt Cellar was the most popular, closely followed by the Peak District Millstone and Matlock Bath. I’ve not actually visited the Salt Cellar before but after seeing how popular the design was, it’s definitely on my list of places I need to visit! I’m always looking for new places I can go walking with Orla and Amber and this place sounds perfect! If you’re not familiar with the Salt Cellar either, it’s meant to be one of the most photogenic spots in the whole of the Peak District. It’s a really unusual rock formation that sits high up on the Derwent Edge, overlooking Ladybower Reservoir and Derwent Valley.
So can you guess what happened next?
I was really chuffed with how well Lisa’s creations sold in the shop and how much our customers loved the style of her work, that I decided to make some of the designs and products a more permanent fixture. To start with I’ve decided to keep stocking her local postcards, coasters, A4 and A3 wall art prints and magnetic print hangers. And of course we had to keep a couple of the bespoke designs Lisa created especially for us as well as some of the best sellers during the pop up display.
Initially we will be stocking the following designs:
- St John Street, Ashbourne
- Bamford Edge
- Peak District Millstone
- Salt Cellar
- Tissington Trail
- Winnats Pass
Now that we are stocking Lisa’s work on a more permanent basis, we have created dedicated page for her in our Maker Directory, If you’d like to get to know Lisa and learn more about her small business, I’ve spent a little bit of time conducting a short interview with her. You can have a nosey and read more by clicking here.
Are you interested in having a pop up display with us?
Like I said earlier on, we have been successfully hosting pop up displays with local small businesses in our shop windows for the last few years now. They’ve always been incredibly popular and the feedback from our lovely customers and makers has always been amazing. It’s not everyday a maker is given the opportunity to takeover a shop window on a busy high street!
Not only are pop up shop window displays a great way for us trial lots of new products from new and existing makers for a short period of time, they are also a great way for creative small businesses to get their products in front of a totally new audience. We’re fully booked for pop up shop displays for this year and have already starting booking them in for next year. If you think you might be interesting in having a pop up display with us in the future, I am always keen to hear from local artists and makers. I absolutely love partnering with other small businesses and being able to showcasing their work in our shop windows. If you’re interested in finding out more about how it all works and to discuss availability for next year, please send me an email (Laura) on [email protected] with the subject line POP UP ENQUIRY and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
