Amid Recess/Depression/Whatever, a Boom for Crafting?
This NYT article puts forth the argument that while our presently crappy economy is hurting retail sales overall, crafting stores and web services that involve crafting are seeing, and will continue to see, a healthy bump:
Craft stores, from giant chains like Michaels Stores to small scrapbook supply shops, are reporting that sales are higher compared with the last holiday season, and online marketplaces for handmade goods, like Etsy, are seeing a boom in listings and transactions.For Craft Sales, the Recession Is a Help (New York Times)Sales at Scrap, a craft supply store in Portland, Ore., were up 33 percent in November compared with the year before. The shop’s customers have made a menorah out of yellow plastic bottle caps, Christmas tree ornaments from wood samples and calendars from fabric and paper collages, according to Sarah Dyer, the manager.
“A lot of people are doing a do-it-yourself Christmas, because of the economic downturn but also wanting to make their lives more sustainable, making stuff as opposed to buying more stuff,” she said.
Image: "rua dos remédios," a photograph of a crafting supply store in Portugal, by Flickr user Rosa Pomar.
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It is honestly refreshing to read about some segment of the market that is not suffering. Positive economic news these days? Imagine...
I see two silver linings here. First, more people are trying to live within a budget. Second, I think that DIY gifts are way more thoughtful.
Sweet.
It would appear that the term is not 'recession' nor 'depression' but rather 'meltdown'.
Ah! So that's why I've suddenly rediscovered my obsession with knitting!
What some folks are failing to take in to account is that craft sales have had a steady rise for the last few years. The fact that this year's sales are higher than last year could just be continuing the trend.
However it is interesting that while larger categories may be falling (automotive, high end electronic, etc) the craft economy is still growing.
SCRAP -- The School and Community Reuse Action Project -- mentioned in the NYT excerpt, is not only a craft supply store, but also a place to donate materials others might use. I've given them old postcards, posters, and miscellaneous office supplies. I love having a place to take things that would otherwise be clutter in my home or wasted in a landfill. Their website includes links for similar groups in other locations.
hhwlib in Portland, OR
The New York Times is a bit pathological about bogus trend stories.
Straight dudes love cats!
Church attendance is booming because of the recession!
As Doctor Popular points out, the surge in craftiness predates the recession. Correlation and causality are the same thing in NYT human-interest stories.
do you own at least one thing made for you by a family member or friend?
Do your friends and family members own at least one thing each, made by you?
(fixed or repaired by you counts too)
People often disparage crafting stuff when they say things like: "This is what they used to do before television."
Cancel your cable and Netflix and suddenly you find you have a lot of time on your hands. What a better way to spend it then making things?
@benw, that's funny, and there's a ring of truth there, but the premise of the NYT piece here is legit. Other retail stores are having a terrible time of it, and this sub-sector appears to be selling a lot of stuff. I think the reporter in this case has been reasonably sober about not saying "the upsurge in crafting is a direct result of economic problems." There is real, observable data about sales in crafting-related stores and the sales activity in other retail stores, and that's enough to hang a headline on, IMO.
Crafting isn't going back to pre-TV in some Luddite hug-circle, far from it. You can use the intertubes to get (and share) crochet patterns for your favourite Tardis. T'is a thing of its time.
Oh, and UK sales figures concur with the US ones: craft supplies shops are doing well.
I gots an idea: you textile crafters can tell me if it's any good; blanket/robe/poncho affair that tails off to a standard North American floor heat vent sized collar-insert so you stay warm at the computer. Sort of a kotatsu for people who sit in chairs. Or just a robe affair with a chair with a light bulb on the bottom side of the seat for warmth.
I own many things made for me by friends, and have a small mountain of hand-made items for my family members, ready for wrapping, sitting on my table. Embroidered, crocheted, carved, grown and sewn. Before this year I did not possess any of these skills, and gorged in the marketplace like everybody else in Christmas fever. This year, I did what I could with as little as I could, placed an embargo on even new craft-supply purchases and made what I could with what I already had. The results are surprisingly beautiful, and the experience has been extremely pleasurable. It is a deeply satisfying experience to realise that your own hands are capable of creating beautiful things.
I do not watch television, and did not for years before I began crafting, but I find that hand-crafts, a beer, and the company of a good friend go very, very well together for far more satisfaction than I can imagine gaining from the television. I also could never have encountered or practised so many crafts without access to the internet to explore patterns, methods and concepts. This is not a pre-television phenomenon but a post-television phenomenon.
Craft and for the techy types, MAKEing too of course. Get ready now for Scotlands first ever Maker Fair - Make and Do, Show and Tell, in March 2009. Find those new christmas present tools and get busy with new inventions and hacks to show us all.
See more at http://mcmadsat.blogspot.com/
I was interested to see this post - though I agree that the crafting trend has been on the horizon for a few years now. In general there just seems to be a return to more home-and-hearth type activities, ie crafting, cooking - because they're economical and people need to save money any way they can. Here's a blog my friends and I started for our craft group - www.craftbites.blogspot.com