If it were up to Alison Murphy, she would have opened a holiday boutique showcasing items made by local artists last winter. Concord, though, may not have been fully prepared.
But it is now.
Murphy's dream ultimately came to fruition with the Nov. 1 opening of Concord Handmade, a pop-up holiday shop at 1 S. Main St. featuring items from as many as 70 New England artists, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
With CATCH Neighborhood Housing's unveiling of a building aimed specifically at housing artists and a growing groundswell of support for local crafters, the timing couldn't have been any better.
“It seems like Concord was ready for something like this,” Murphy said. “It was a bummer we couldn't get it done last year, but this was the time for Concord to have something like this. People are really excited about it, to be able to do their Christmas shopping here, to support local people.”
The Insider wouldn't dream of checking items off its holiday list in anything but a local outlet, so we headed downtown, piggy bank in tow, to find out what kind of offerings were being, well, offered.
The store features contributions from artists all over New England, Murphy said, several of whom are from Concord. There's a little bit of everything, from art on the walls to jewelry and accessories to clothing – seasonal and otherwise.
It's not the kind of store for hesitant shoppers, though. As most items are made by local artists, they are unique and rare. So when Murphy restocks, she's rarely putting the same item back on the rack.
“Most of this stuff is the only (item like it) we are going to have for the season,” Murphy said. “It's a lot of one-of-a-kind stuff.”
Murphy is an artist herself, specializing in jewelry and accessories, and has been a regular at the Concord Arts Market and other local shows. It was there that she developed a rapport with dozens of other artists, artists who eventually became the inspiration for the store.
All items are on consignment, so artists don't get paid “until their stuff sells,” Murphy said. That requires a level of trust on the part of the artist, which is why Murphy began contacting people she knew already.
But the list of contributors has grown significant since, including a handful of Concord-based artists who have delivered products since the store opened its doors.
Opening those doors was a bit of whirlwind experience itself. CATCH provided the store space because it plans to renovate the building in January and couldn't accommodate a long-term tenant, but Murphy was left with little more than a week to paint the walls and establish the decor she wanted.
With an army of artist friends, though, that project quickly became a challenge people were eager to tackle.
“We moved in Oct. 24 and had about a week to get everything ready,” Murphy said. “It came together very quickly.”
Murphy had other factions to call on for support, too, including what may seem some unlikely sources in her roller-derby teammates from Granite State Roller Derby in Concord.
But several teammates are also artists, who not only helped with the manual labor but also contributed items once the shop was open for business.
“That independent, do-it-yourself movement is in the craft world and the roller derby world,” Murphy said. “I could just send an email to the team and say come help me paint and they would do it.”
Murphy is the store's only official employee – though she frequently calls on family for shifts behind the register – and she tailored the hours to those who like to shop after work, remaining open until 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and opening again Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
The response has been overwhelming enough that Murphy said she'd like to recreate the pop-up shop again in the future, perhaps as an annual thing. And though the doors will officially close on this year's journey Jan. 5, it's already been a worthwhile venture.
“I've been here for a lot of long days, but it's totally worth it knowing it's going to end soon, and the feedback from the people who come in and are so excited about it, there are all kinds of different people who think Concord needs this and want to support it and are excited to do their Christmas shopping here. It makes it worth it to be here so much,” Murphy said.
