Carnegie: Little Shop of Handmade

Tell us a little bit about your store
Little Shop of Handmade is about 13km South East of Melbourne CBD in the Suburb of Carnegie.

We sell 100% Handmade in Melbourne/Rural Vic goodies - with the exception of our craft kit's and books which are sourced all over the world, but then you go ahead and make it yourself in Melbourne so it still fits in with the theme. One of the requirements for stocking at Little Shop is that all items must retail for under $50. We have an AMAZING selection over 40 designers/craftsters including our own in house Brands "Little Shop Of... and Morgan and Jane"...

We literally are a little shop - but you wont believe how much we have packed into the space.... we have big plans for a second store called the "Big Shop of Handmade" later this year or early 2011

when/why did you open your store?
We opened in July 2009. Originally the store was only going to be my studio/showroom as I had totally outgrown my spare bedroom just dealing with internet orders I was getting from Made It, Etsy and littleshopof.com - I also had about 15 Stockists to look after and my weekly Market stall to make for - it had become crazy to say the least...luckily my husband Jon was happy enough to step over the boxes and push the mess aside to sit down at the table for dinner "Bless Him"!

We actually live in Carnegie ourselves and had our eye on this cute little shop front for a while - the store was never open and on our daily walks past we dreamed if only this was ours....we could do so much etc then one afternoon we saw the for the lease sign ( a few weeks before we heading to India for a month YIKES! ).

The shop had a small studio space out the back plus a sweet little shop front - so the shop was born. I have lived in the area for about 3 years and knew that I could get away with doing such an exciting concept in an unexpected shopping strip. We are still pretty close to the City but really at the start of suburbia and the area is full of ex inner city livers who moved out to start families - so lot's of professional groovers Photographers, Designers, Copy writers etc so I really wanted to bring a more inner city concept to the burb's - it's been amazingly received - it's awesome! at least twice a week I get comments on how much the shop is like those found on Flinders Lane, Fitzroy, Northcote and even Japan WOO HOO!



What labels designers do you stock in your store?
ohh so many - all your Melbourne Market favourites - Little Shop of, Rummage Style Vintage, Scrumptious Productions, Lark, Blockage, Aunty Cookie, Rabbit and the Duck, Owl and Fox, Mingus, Button Tree, Pirdy, Buttons by Lou Lou, My Very Button, Pocket Carnival, Studio Leanne, Empress designs, Pear Shaped, Mainichi, Blue Ginger Designs, Here we go Loupy Lou, Print Space, Sooooound, Crayon Chick, Emerge, Peeping Tom Papers, Vendela, Maggie Dolly, Little Gooseberry, Jo Sew and Sew, Night Owl, Scotatto, Cserpent, Kalliopi, Lekker, Red Letter Studio, Shei Collection, Boombi, Wee Small Hours, Charlie Parker, Le Pappillion, Shonah, Ali, Pinky Pig, Pezimystic, Betty and Hamish, Polka Dot Rabbit, Pins and Thimbles, Antigone K, Nilla Nilla, Bella Girl, Pepperberry and Co, Faith, Hope and a Whole Lotta Love. Gee, Chuckles Designs...

I think thats everyone, so sorry peeps If I have missed anyone out! We pretty much cover Newborn to Nanna not too much stuff for boy's but I have certainly made it easy for a boy to come by a present though - the general consensus from Ladies shopping with partners in the store is "You can buy me ANYTHING from this shop!"



Why do you love handmade so much?
My background is 10 years in product development for mass market . Towards the end of my career I never felt connected to any of the products I was designing and making - basically it was mass produced junk inevitably ending up as land fill, never to be cherished or kept forever.... and I did not like that at all, no siree!.

I had also totally disconnected myself from the creative side of my work too - working in corporate is always about the bottom line...some one else's bottom line ( and they seemed to be driving fancier cars and living in bigger houses than me when I was doing the hard work!). I love that handmade has absolutely no boundaries and restrictions and what's really important is the feeling of excitement, happiness and the small sense of achievement it brings when starting or finishing a project....if only that happened everyday to every one! What a world!



Name 5 feelings that your customers will feel when they enter your store.
Thrilled, excited, amazed, inspired, welcome

Little Shop of Handmade (visit website)
8 Woorayl St
Carnegie, Vic
3163

Opening Hours
• Sun , Mon, Tues ~ Closed
• Wed - Fri ~ 11am - 6pm
• Sat ~ 10am - 4.30pm