One day, pop-up art supplies shop

Graphic designer Ebony Bizys recycled her arts and crafts materials at a one-day garage sale.

Graphic designers Ebony Bizys (right) and Grace Lee.	Customers search for bargains.

What do you do when you land a job at one of Australia's top women's fashion magazines as deputy art director and no longer need your old arts and crafts materials? 

Pass them on to another good home, of course. This is what inspired graphic designer Ebony Bizys to take over an empty shop on Sydney's Parramatta Road in Annandale for just one day. Together with another young designer, she organised a garage sale to sell off everything from paintbrushes to arts magazines and design books. 

Dubbed the Hello Sandwich Pop-Up Shop (named after her blog), Ebony used her mother's contacts to borrow the shop for the day. 'My mum owns a shop a few doors down (Sandie Bizys Hats and Hair) and she knew the landlord of this empty property. The property was un-leased and vacant at the time so the keys were simply a phone call away." 

Ebony and Grace decorated the window of their one-day pop-up art supplies shop the night before the event took place.

The landlord was more than happy to provide the shopfront and gave Ebony the keys a week in advance so she could clean and set up signage in the window frame.  Ebony and fellow designer Grace Lee installed their wares the night before the garage sale. 

The process of acquiring and using the shop for the day was very smooth with the only concern being possible theft.

The Agreement 

The agreement between Ebony and the landlord was informal, and she was fortunate to be able to use her mother's public liability insurance which was extended to include the empty shop for one day. 

As it was only a one-day bonanza Ebony decorated only the shop window  with signage and balloons. "We were restricted mostly due to time and a non-existent budget," she says.

Benefits and Buzz

Being able to hold a garage sale in a shopfront gave the Hello Sandwich pop-up shop excellent coverage. "The location was right on the bus stop and on a very busy road," says Ebony. "There were a huge amount of customers including some sent down from my mother's store. 

"I was able to create brand awareness and to meet and greet readers of my Hello Sandwich blog as well as reusing the goods rather than have them appear in landfill." 

Surrounding local businesses were "pleased with the buzzy nature of the pop up shop and to have drawn in some new customers" says Ebony. 

"Being a member of the local community myself, I am friends with quite a lot of the local business owners. A lot came and bought goods themselves - heavily discounted of course. The local cafe brought us handmade chocolates!"

Ebony also learned that there was a big market for Hello Sandwich Pre-loved Packs and she has since started selling these via an online shop.

"This was a one-day event only but I would jump at the chance for a repeat event," enthuses Ebony. "I'd advise others to give it a shot. It was a great day and a wonderful learning experience with limited risk."

Location