Today is our first international shop tour, hurray! Hopefully one of many more to come... Let's take a peek inside Meet Me at Mikes, a wonderful little shop in Melbourne that carries a wide array of handmade and vintage goodies!
What is the name of your shop and where is it located? How long have you been in business?
Our shop is called 'Meet Me at Mikes' - we are at 63 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia! We've been trading in our bricks and mortar store for just over three years and online for six months.
What sorts of items do you sell? Who are some of the designers you carry?
Our emphasis is on
Handmade, local and nostalgic. We carry a really diverse range of
handmade products, as well as some vintage items and some new things
too! Our store and stock changes
daily! At the moment we are enjoying the company of lovely locally made
jewellery and accessories by Victoria
Mason, Lark Designs, Emma Greenwood, AnnaLaura, Sarah McNeil, Hokey, Bridget Farmer and many other small
designers.
We stock handmade toys from Jess McCaughey, Kootoyoo, One Red Robin, One Trick Pony, Betty and Hamish, Boobook. Lovely Aprons by McCranky, paper dolls by Catherine Campbell, cute embroidered totes from Sweet Jessie, embroidery transfers from the wonderful Sublime Stitching and Sew Your Own softie kits too! We stock locally printed fabric and stationery from Aunty Cookie and Lara Cameron. We have a nice range of mid-century ceramics, vintage fabric pieces, vintage wallpaper. We stock a selection of vintage and new books - think Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats, Mary Blair and Enid Blyton and you'll be on the right track. AND we've just launched our own 'Meet Me at Mikes' range of vintage inspired products, which includes vintage illustrated pendants and storybook wallets amongst other lovely things!
What sort of mood/design aesthetic does your shop have?
Our aesthetic is colourful, fun, nostalgic and
sweet. Our aim is to create a happy, approachable, unique shop that people
want to spend time in. It's kind of like a general 'goodness' store!
Your tiny niece will love it... and your grandma too! We like to be
inclusive! We run interactive projects in our window - and love to get
people involved in what we are doing. Recently we had a giant inspiration
board window and we're running our second 'Softies for Mirabel' window at the moment to raise funds for The Mirabel Foundation (who
support kids in substance-abuse affected families).
What price range do you carry?
From $1 (for vintage dress patterns) to $200 (for a handmade silver pencil-shaving necklace by Victoria Mason) - it's very important to me that our stock is affordable - with most items coming in under $50.
What do you think makes your shop stand out from the crowd and keep people coming back?
Our shop is a little beacon of happiness in a really diverse neighbourhood. I think it smiles out at the street, even on the dullest day, and people like that! Also, I think people love our shop because we really pay attention to the little details. We make all our own packaging - from our story-book adorned newspaper carry bags down to the little envelopes we tuck your receipt into. We genuinely love all our stock - and I think people can tell - our shop has lots of soul! We're constantly trying to improve our store and surprise our customers with new fun ideas - it keeps things interesting for everyone that way!
Do you operate on wholesale or consignment? Do you accept submissions of handmade items from designers? If so, what's the best way for them to approach you?
We work on both wholesale and consignment. We love to receive submissions from designers - and would encourage them to send us a link to their etsy, myspace or flickr so we can take a peek at the things they make!
What is the best thing about owning your own shop? And the worst?
Being able to love your job every day is a complete luxury... so that's one of the best things! Also we've met some of our dearest friends via the store - it's so much easier to make friends with an open door - and it's usually like-minded people who wander in looking for a chat! So that's really nice too! The worst thing is definitely riding the fluctuations in terms of turnover - it's really hard to know when there's a quiet month coming up - and it's sometimes tricky to be prepared for those flat periods.
What is one lesson you can pass down to future shop-keeps who are just getting started?
Don't be shy about letting people
know about your shop! You don't need a big marketing budget to raise your
store profile - you just need a bit of commitment and ingenuity! Make the
most of free sites like Flickr, Big Cartel and Blogger to get the word out - and definitely
don't assume that the media will contact you when you are 'good enough' or 'big
enough' - you really need to be proactive and start knocking on doors (or at
least sending some 'look at me' emails). Also be sure to have a nice group
of people supporting you - be they family or friends - because even the sunniest
little shop may need to call in the troops sometimes! Don't be afraid to
ask for help when you need it!
Thank you Pip for sharing your lovely little store and wonderful insights with us! For more info about Meet Me at Mikes, check out their blog or shop online- you can also see many more picture of the shop on their flickr!
