It’s that time of year again, and man, has it been a year! I mean . . . for us, at Gather and BHM, the year is just beginning, but we’ve been hearing it over and over again – WHAT A YEAR! *deep breaths* So here we are, year 11 under our belts. Boy does … More Tales from a Shopkeep : BHM 2019
We’re off to a great start this new year – we’re pretty excited for what 2019 holds for us, are you!? I mean, sure, the weather hasn’t been great . . . as I sit here in the store, with the rain pouring down, threatening to freeze later this afternoon, but still, we’re glad to … More Tales from a Shopkeep: on the new year and Love
It was brought to my attention last week, by a fellow small business owner, that we were lacking a local holiday gift guide this year for various reasons. So, in a pinch, I reached out to local stores from our group, Bloomington Brick & Mortar, and without further ado, I give you our ALL LOCAL … More Holiday Gift Guide 2018
The year was 2009. I was a stay-at-home mom to an adorable, kissable, cuter than cute bouncing baby boy, and Etsy was in its heyday. Far far away, on the IU campus, three young women started something big – the Bloomington Handmade Market. No one can really tell me who or where the idea first … More here’s to 10 (more) years!
A few weeks ago (ok, maybe a month- time travels WAY too fast these days!) I was reminded about Craft-A-Way Camp thanks to FB and its incessant need to stalk my interests and friend groups. As per usual, FB wins and I applied to join the adventurers that run craft-a-way in the middle of the … More Tales from a Shopkeep: Craft-a-Way Camp
Last fall, four of us sat around a table and discussed the future of the spring BHM show. Gather had moved out of Fountain Square Mall, which meant, it didn’t make logical sense to host the spring show in that location any longer. To be honest, FSM was never the BEST place for a spring … More Tales from a Shopkeep : BHM Wrap-Up
Today the fam and I ventured into the wild (ok, downtown Bloomington) to visit the City’s Bicentennial Street Fair held on Kirkwood Ave between Walnut and Indiana, which, for those of you that aren’t familiar with organizing festivals (and wrangling cats) is a SUPER HUGE endeavor. It really is no small feat to close down … More Tales from a Shopkeep: Bloomington’s Bicentennial
There’s this thing in the retail world – they call it a reset. I think. I mean, who am I kidding? I just make this shit up as I go! But, it sounds good nonetheless;) Every few months we make the store look new again. It’s important for us to change things out for a … More Tales from a Shopkeep: New Year Reset
I’m feeling a little nostalgic. Graduation weekend tends to do that even if I’m not graduating. A whole new group of kids (to me anyway) are starting a new journey. Our own Gather owner, Talia, is taking a big leap with Gather and moving to a new (HUGE) space on the square. Acknowledging the new … More Love Living Local: Reminiscing in Bloomington
A couple of years ago, when I first moved into Fountain Square Mall, I started to make friends with the other business owners that I would learn to call my neighbors, and eventually some of my best friends. Across the hall, I continued to get to know Nancy Bradley, the (former) owner of O’Child Children’s … More Tales from a Shopkeep -There Goes the Neighborhood
Gather 