Project Storefronts Union Station Holiday Mart

New Haven Project Storefronts Presents  Annual Union Station Holiday Mart

New Haven Project Storefronts has announced the  annual Holiday Mart Street Fair. The Holiday Mart Street Fair will open on December 4, 2014 inside the West Lobby of Union Station, located at 50 Union Avenue in New Haven.

The Project Storefronts Holiday Mart Street Fair will showcase an array of talented artists, craftsman and local business owners that together celebrate New Haven. Music and brightly colored banners will direct visitors to the location of the street fair in the Union Station West Lobby.

There will be a total of 23 vendors featured throughout the Holiday Mart season. These vendors include:

 

●     Chris Randall: “I Love New Haven!” calendars.

●     Sharmilee Khona: Pure Elements handmade, all natural sugar scrubs, hand balms and soy wax candle with essential oils.

●     Kizzy’s Kloset: Handmade Italian leather accessories.

●     54 Kingdoms: Innovative and avante-garde Men’s and Woman’s clothing.

●     Julie Nicholoy: Abstract artwork of all kinds including photography, charcoals, pastels, and craft painting.

●     Rosemond Frett: Elegant Silk and Velvet Scarves, 12 Cocoa & Coffees of Christmas.

●     Nadine Nelson: An array of cooking supplies and chutneys.

The Holiday Mart will be open on December 4^th, 5^th, 12^th, and 19^th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  For more information visit the Project Storefronts Facebook and RSVP for the opening reception.             

Pop-up 55 welcomes 54 Kingdoms

Project Storefronts is excited to announce that 54 Kingdoms will take over Popup 55 with their fashionable designs from November 4–8. Having received media attention from the likes of Entrepreneur Magazine, NBC Connecticut, New Haven Independent, and many more, 54 Kingdoms is known for its seamless integration of Pan-African culture with current trends in fabrics and styles.

54 Kingdoms is giving customers 20% discount of all products (apparel and accessories) during Pop-up 55. Available men apparel includes University of Afrika (UoA) henley and sweaters, and Tilbury pants. Maasai dresses and skirts, and Afrikana Delight tops will be in stock for women. Tee-shirt fanatics can ask about the popular Score For Unity fan gears released to celebrate Africa at this year’s World Soccer Championship held in Brazil. Accessories such as handcrafted Bonoman belts, Sankofa travel bag and beaded necklaces and bracelets will be available for sale.

Hours of operation for 54 Kingdoms from November 4-8:
Tuesday, November 4: 12pm – 5pm
Wednesday, November 5: 12pm – 5pm
Thursday, November 6: 12pm – 5pm
Friday, November 7: 12pm – 5pm
Saturday, November 8: 12pm – 6pm

About 54 Kingdoms:

54 Kingdoms is an apparel and accessory company that brings the Pan-African creative, history and culture to the doorstep of global fashion by paying close attention to detail and fine craftsmanship. At 54 Kingdoms, it’s not just about dressing to IMPRESS, but to also EXPRESS culture, pride and identity. 

For more info please visit  

54kingdoms.com | contact@54kingdoms.com

twitter.com/54kingdoms | facebook.com/54kingdoms | instagram.com/54kingdoms

About Project Storefronts:

Project Storefronts is a program that fuses the city’s creative sector with small business development. It grew out of the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism efforts to diversify how they engage with artists and the community.  DACT partners with the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven and the city’s Office of Economic Development along with the State of Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts to bring this project to life.   Project Storefronts works with property owners to secure free access to their vacant retail spaces. The program has been successful in helping landlords to rent their empty spaces. Meanwhile, the donated space helps creative entrepreneurs to test the viability of new, innovative business and retail initiatives while also educating themselves about what it takes to be a successful businessperson. Project Storefronts is actively seeking new applicants and properties in various neighborhoods.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Storefronts/147318158621818

Popup55

https://www.facebook.com/popupfiftyfive

Mini Halloween Shop @ PopUp55

Seymour based artist and vintage clothing vendor Jillian Lyons is ready to give New Haven her
haunted vision of Halloween. Valley Vintage & Jillian Lyons Designs will be taking over Project
Storefront New Haven’s location, PopUp 55, for a one week only engagement from October
27th ­ November 3rd. The shop will feature vintage Halloween accessories, masks and
costumes as well as handmade costume pieces, vintage clothing in fall colorways, handmade
spooky jewelry and Halloween themed fine art photography. The shop will be open all seven
days from 12pm ­ 7pm. Items will be curated daily throughout its seven day run. The Mini
Halloween Shop may also be announcing special guests as the event date comes closer!

Jillian Lyons began Jillian Lyons Designs in late 2010 as a way to deal with an unexpected
cancer diagnosis. As she recovered, she began to create a full handmade inventory and start
working again. She took a part time position with New Haven’s own Vintanthromodern Vintage
working as an assistant as well as handling booking and promotions. Vintanthromodern’s
Melissa Gonzales was a big influence on Ms. Lyons. Jillian utilized her experience when taking her small collection of vintage clothing to create an online business, Valley Vintage. Jillian uses

New Neighborhood, New Storefront

An incubator for small creative entrepreneurs and artisans is coming to the heart of New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood.

Located at 938 State Street, The Haven Collective will feature expertly curated vintage clothing, shoes and accessories from Vintanthromodern Vintage and American handmade goods from lifestyle brand (23rd/1st). Meanwhile, monthly pop-up shops will showcase products from small businesses and makers across the state of Connecticut.  Jewelry maker Kate Stephen will be featured as the Collective's first rotating pop-up shop. The Haven Collective will also host creative social events and a modern craft studio in its unique space.

The grand opening celebration on October 24, from 6-10pm, will include giveaways – a membership to the Haven Collective, a free class, and a gift certificate for $50 to one of the Haven Collective's vendors, as well as food, drink, mingling and crafting! 

For more info please contact 

Melissa Gonzales - Owner & Curator

Vintanthromodern Vintage & The Vintanthromobile

Co-Founder- The Haven Collective

938 State State Street

New Haven, Connecticut

Website/Facebook:

http://vintanthromodernvintage.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thevintanthromobile

Email

thehavencollective@gmail.com

In our world, strange is just another word for unique

Stores and niche shops come and go, but cool ideas seem to be a staple here in New Haven. A city full of creative entrepreneurs, who see New Haven's small city as an advantage to crafting a one on one relationship with residents and other local business to create a cross pollination. 

Alex Dakoulas

New Haven's newest resident Alex Dakoulas, who is recent transplant from Boston, MA. does just that. Alex is the owner, art director and designer for Strange Ways. His past experience includes designing graphics and footwear for Converse and Puma, where his work primarily revolved around account-specific products—so he knows about designing for a particular consumer. He also ran his own apparel line, Dance Party Massacre—which you would have loved if you enjoy 80s horror movies. He's worked on exclusive collabs for Dr. Suess, Footlocker, DC Comics, Converse boutiques, Fangoria and more. His work has also been featured in Inked Magazine, Out Magazine, Karmaloop.com, High Snobiety, and Fab.com among others.

Guerrilla Gourmet at its Finest!

Have you ever wanted a good brunch place in New Haven, to stand up to that of other great cities in this region? Recently a few local residents have made  this issue worth  tackling.

This is what you call  Guerrilla Gourmet at its finest!



DowntownTable is a pop-up brunch restaurant in New Haven, CT. In an effort to bring fresh farm-to-table cuisine directly to the people, local chefs Nadine Nelson and Katherine McComic have set down two giant family-style tables in the middle of 9th Square to promote companionship in the heart of the city. The etymology of the word "companion" traces back to com-pain, or "with bread". In other words, companions are the persons with whom you break bread, your breadfellows, breadthren etc. In this spirit, Nadine and Katherine are making locally-sourced feasts to embrace the diversity of the people of downtown New Haven.

Make sure to join them on September 21, and 28. Two seating's per Sunday, 10AM & 12PM. 

$20 Buffet. BYOB, $5 corkage fee. Coffee/Juice not included. 

Gordon Skinner and EleMar Gallery: Brought Together by Project Storefronts

 Bread and Circuses

After a successful stint at Project Storefronts Popup55, longtime collaborator Gordon Skinner was introduced to EleMar Stone Distributer owner Mark Krueger. For over the past year Krueger has been carving out a piece of his storefront for an art gallery of the same name. After their first meeting a partnership was born and Skinner’s show, Bread and Circuses: Portraits and Collages by Gordon Skinner will open on September 20^th.

"The artists I seek to work with” says Kruegar, “at my gallery are all committed to advancing their enterprises as businesses.  Intelligent partnership increases the possibility and probability of success."

In addition to being a gallerist and a businessperson, Mark Krueger is also an artist in his own right. "For me, its immediate application is inside people’s houses where I install decorative stone interiors.  In the last three or four years I’ve started to use stone to create artwork."

Union Station Street Fair!

New Haven Project Storefronts and Park New Haven is hosting the first-ever Union Station Street Fair! The fair will be open Friday, July 18th from 4-9 PM and July 19th from 9 am - 2 pm, in the West Lobby of the station. Music and bright banners will attract commuters to our 16 vendors. Ranging from pillows made by artist Gordon Skinner to hand-made soaps, all vendors are New Haven entrepreneurs offering unique items.

Popup55 features a new lineup of creative entrepreneurs

Popup55 features a new lineup of creative entrepreneurs

A new eyecatching, colorful display graces 55 Church St.  It features merchandise by creative entrepreneurs made in New Haven and meant for export to other places.

The installation by Ray Figlewski includes:

Postcards and prints from The Hill Museum of the Arts, showcasing the persistent pencil of Krikko Obbot and his fascination with local and regional cityscapes.

Dolls made of beads, buttons, scrap wood and found materials by Rashmi Talpade. They function as window accents, decorative elements in the home or automobile or an unusual luggage tag and come in three sizes.

An information kiosk made by Liam Doherty from recycled wooden pallets. His startup builds furniture that empowers communities, including benches commissioned for the MLK Peace Garden that will enable Bridging Families of New Haven County to turn their garden into a space for organizing meetings and outdoor evening theater performances.  The kiosk is a prototype; orders may be placed for similar models with customizable features.

Entrepreneurs and vendors of creative products wishing to be included in future popups can submit information via this link:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CHla-j6kdftMsBs7wTK4LQ4iu6Dqms6QC6xZStid_Xg/viewform