More Confessions & Ruminations of a New Gallery Owner

Since we announced the exciting news that Karmyc Bazaar is moving locations (to 1603 Pandosy Street, if you haven’t heard), we’ve received a ton of support, lots of questions and some completely understandable assumptions about the current state of our business.

We just moved into our Cannery Lane location in January of this year, so naturally when a business moves to a bigger location, it’s normal for people to think it’s already raking in the “dough”, needing to expand, and certainly the owners are quitting their day jobs to plunge in. ~ I wish!

You know, I’ve never been a terrific liar, and am trying to live my personal and business lives as authentically as possible…so here’s the truth, dear friends:

Our business is doing…pretty good. As good as a brand new, niche business run by two green entrepreneurs who still have full-time jobs can likely be doing. We’ve watched our sales chug along, skyrocket, and plummet all within a few months (not necessarily in that order). It’s been a topsy-turvy ride thus far, and I don’t want to be putting on any airs. If we can’t be honest, what’s the point?!

Also the [bigger] truth:

I LOVE what we’re doing: bringing unique artwork to the Okanagan, supporting the arts, inspiring others through creativity, building community, and daring to do something different! We felt that even though we’re such a new business, it was time to jump in and take on a space where we can really open up the creative parachute and hope like Hell that we float.

I know that it won’t be easy…there have been a lot of challenges already along the way, a lot of tough lessons to learn and I’m certain many more to come. We often don’t know exactly what we’re doing, but I relish trying things out and seeing where they take us.

We hope to have our second “soft-open” next week! Stay tuned for details and please support local, support the arts, support the community and visit us. Our goal is for this new space to have more of a community vibe…we have a sweet little vintage love seat that’s calling you to come down and have a seat, check out some artwork, visit with the artists sharing our space, and bring your awesome energy with you.

With so much love (and authenticity along this journey),

Jennelle