Hi there,
Calling any fellow crafters in Wimbledon or Chessington that are looking for an affordable place to sell there wares… I currently have a stall in a craft shop in Wimbledon where I sell my bits and bobs (visit my shop Mungbeans on folksy) which I share with a friend and we split the costs (£22.50 each a month). We both do it as a hobby, but unfortunately my friend has to go back to work in January and can no longer commit, so I am trying to find someone to take her place or rent space on the stall.
In terms of practicalities:
The stall is in the Centre Court shopping centre in Wimbledon, in a shop that specialises in hand-made gifts. The shop is fully staffed so you don’t need to be there - you can just go in when you need to drop your stock off and they sell it for you and pay you monthly for any sales made.
The shopping centre is right next to Wimbledon station and has a huge amount of foot traffic. I have had my stall for 6 months and have had a good steady stream of sales - the summer was amazing as everyone was there for the tennis!
My stall is 3 shelves and tabletop so would be happy to rent either half the space, or just a shelf or 2.
If you are interested send me your e-mail address and I will send you some pictures and tell you a bit more about the shop
All the best
Nat
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for getting in touch. The shop is called Fayre & Square and it is on the second floor. It is a non profit organisation set up by the Merton Volunteer Centre and aims to get people who have been out of work a way back in by giving them work experience in a retail environment (these are the people that man the shop). They obviously need something to sell, so they rent tables to local crafters who supply the produce. The shop is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays and one day of the weekend (it alternates between Sat/Sun) - if you live close by do pop in and take a look - my stall is called Mungbeans and it’s number 18 on the right hand side half way back.
I started doing it in July whilst on maternity leave, and although sales haven’t been prolific, I have averaged selling about 40 items a month (which sounds like a lot but as my items are only a couple of quid each it isn’t going to make me rich. However, looking at your shop (lovely mosaics by the way) you would only have to sell one or two items a month to cover your costs. There’s about 15 stalls in the shop at the moment selling everything from baby stuff to hand sewn goods to jewellery and decorative items. There’s no mosiacs on sale (I suspect yoour items would do rather well) - the closest is a lady that does glass wear and she does really well. In terms of prices, lots of people sell small nick-knacky stuff (£10 and under) and the most expensive item is a really bizarre stall that sells fake babies (very creepy!) for £150-300 each, and miraculously there seems to be quite a few people out there who buy them!!!
My friend is wanting to give up her half of the stall, and much as I would love to have the whole pitch to myself, I have to go back to work soon, and what with work and 2 kids, I don’t think I will have much time to make things/fill the pitch, but I am loath to give it up altogether as I really enjoy it.
I have some pictures of the pitch which I can email to you if you let me know your email address (I tried to attach it to this message but the file is too big). It’s basically a tabletop (about 2m x 1m with a set of shelves behind it (3 in total) which are about the same length, so you can fit a fair amount of stock on it.
At the moment I have half the table top and the top shelf and Emy has the rest of the table and the 2 lower down shelves, but this is all changeable. Being realistic, I really only need half the table and a little bit of shelf.
Hi there,
So sorry for not getting back to you sooner - been a bit manic and then went away on holiday. To answer your question, I am currently sharing my stall with another Folksy seller and it’s all going well, but she’s probably giving up at the end of the year. Her stuff is a lot more high end than mine and consequently much pricier, which seems to be a sticking point.
If you want to send me your details I’ll certainly get in touch if the pitch space becomes available (what do you make)
All the best
Nat
This thread is long dead but maybe not the person who started it?
MuNGBEANS / Natalie, I am looking for ventures with other designers and makers; sharing a shop front would be awesome! Let me know if you have had other ventures, or if you would consider one with a fellow designer, maybe a market stall?
Hi Charlotte,
Thanks for getting in touch - it’s always hard to find good outlets to sell stuff so it’s worth exploring all avenues!
I’m afraid crafting is just a hobby for me and my stall in Wimbledon is about as much as I can manage. However, I do have a very big stand that I struggle to keep filled, so if you are interested in filling a shelf or two of it and sharing the ‘rent’ let me know.
All the best
Nat
