Exciting News: We're Opening a Brick & Mortar!

It's been quite some time since our last post and I wanted to give you all an explanation as to why we've been ghosting a bit on social media and the blog - I promise it's been worth it! You may have heard the news from me personally, but if not, I wanted to let you all know that we are in the process of opening our first storefront location in Kalamazoo, MI! This has been a dream of mine ever since college and throughout my retail career - so it's been a very exciting, albeit a little overwhelming (the good kind though haha), update in events. Those of you who have been following our journey, supported us along the way, prayed over these decisions - thank you from the bottom of our hearts! I'm so incredibly humbled that we have the opportunity to do this and so grateful for the excitement and help so many have given us. 

I'd love to continue ranting and there are so many people I'd love to call out and express our gratitude to - but I'll save that for the launch party :) So mark your calendars for October, we can't wait to show you what we've been working on! 

I also wanted to take the time to answer of couple questions for you all as well:

WHEN WILL YOU BE OPEN?

We're shooting for October but will have a better update in the next couple weeks on timing :) 

WHAT WILL YOUR HOURS BE LIKE?

This is something we're still working through and would love your opinions on, please feel free to comment below and weigh in! At the moment, we're looking to be open Wednes. - Sat. (or by appt.) with hours of 10am to 6 pm. 

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE STORE?

A lot! We're marketing ourselves as a concept store and want to treat the space as so much more than just a shop. If you followed our travels last year to Berlin, I was bursting with inspiration from all the shops and creative communities there and took what I saw as a launch pad for this store hybrid. 

The shop will have a constant influx of beautiful new products for your home, lifestyle and little ones - not to mention, all sorts of occasion gifting. We painstakingly approve each item that we feature in the store and want you to love everything as much as we do. We'll be showcasing a wider selection of curated products and artists and can't wait to introduce you to them! 

Our goal is to create a space that promotes the work of our super creative friends. Kelsey, of Kelsey's Cakes, will have a counter in the store where she will be showcasing her amazing baked goods for special events throughout the week. We're also super amped about Art Hop and can't wait to feature the artistic talents of our dear friends and family members. 

Last, but certainly not least, we will also be hosting monthly creative workshops to further foster the creative community vibe. We'll be updating our website with these new events and will be including bio information all on our teachers. Expect everything from a calligraphy courses to "Flower Arranging for the Holidays."

WHY KALAMAZOO? AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WEBSITE?

We chose Kalamazoo because we've always had a huge, supportive community there and we felt this was the place to have our creative vision run wild. We have been so humbled by all the people who have helped us get to where we are, offered to help and been our cheerleaders - thank you! 

As far as the website goes it will still be under the name Curate Chicago - our founding roots. We're in the process of creating another site for the shop (will launch soon) but it will link to our original site if you would like to online shop. We'll also be adding a "buy online, pick up in store" button which will provide you with additional flexibility to your shopping routine, hooray! 

DOES THIS MEAN YOU & MARCO ARE MOVING TO KALAMAZOO?

As much as we love Kzoo, we still feel strongly that Chicago is our home for the time being. That being said, I will be traveling back and forth during the week to help manage the shop and make sure we have an exciting calendar of events throughout the week. We are looking for 2 part-time sales associates, in addition to my amazing sis, to help us run the store throughout the week as well. If you or someone you know is interested, please check out our application form here or pass along.