Hi all,I am a Brevard artist working with the developers of Cashiers Village on the Hillside Shops project. I wanted to make you all aware of this opportunity, so I hope you don't mind my post!
There is a planned residential community in development at the Cashiers Crossroads that will include a thriving retail portion, along with a pedestrian friendly, cultural town center. Raven Cliff Land is the company behind "Cashiers Village", and I am working part-time with Raven Cliff on this project, specifically the "Cashiers Village Hillside Shops" portion where the retail cottages will be located.
The Hillside Shops and surrounding garden area will be the heart of the Village and will house a number of small cottages shops in a beautifully landscaped setting. We are about to start construction and plan to have 14 individual cottages for our first season. Our goal is to fill the cottages with select artisans who offer high quality products as well as with established local merchants who desire a satellite presence in Cashiers. Each vendor will be responsible for taking money for their sales, wrapping their goods, and maintaining a consistent presence during the scheduled hours.
Our first full season of operation will begin in late May 2010, but we may open for a few weeks over the Fall leaf season this year to give all of our merchants the chance to try their space for as many of those weeks as they would like. The Hillside Shop hours will probably be noon to 6pm, Friday through Sunday, every summer weekend, closing after Labor Day, and re-opening on weekends in October to catch the Fall Colors crowd. Rent will be 10% of gross sales, paid weekly. In addition, there will be a small merchants' association fee of $25 per week that will be used to promote and advertise all of the cottage shops. It is possible for more than one artist to occupy a cottage which will be helpful to some in terms of cutting down on the inventory needs and time requirements (since many of us still plan to do shows during the season.)
I will have a cottage of my own for my pique assiette/mixed media mosaics. Because I have personal knowledge of the project as a whole, I am very excited about the potential for sales and exposure. You've probably started to see our Cashiers Village Hillside Shops ads in local magazines and papers. We're working hard to not only attract quality merchants (thus the very fair 10% of gross sales "rent") but also to generate steady traffic by being highly visible in this region and surrounding out-of-state areas where many of our visitors live.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, I have a vendor packet that contains the specifics as to the size and appearance of the cottages, the expected dates of operation, the application process for inclusion, and the agreements that will pertain to participants so you know exactly what is being offered to, and expected of, merchants. If you'll contact me by email at laura@ravencliffco.com and send me your mailing address, I will get a packet right out to you.
You can see a blog I'm maintaining as we move forward here.
My Mixed Media Mosaics web site is here.
Thanks everyone! Spread the word.
Laura
