Pickyfix Collective

Now I gotta get a frame and hang ‘em.

Go me!

Who wants to help photograph the goods for the online catalog?

     Woot!  I’m going down to the Berkeley Permit Service Center today to pick up our zoning clearance.  Yeah, baby.

     Eep!  I haven’t updated the blog since our last meeting and we’re having another one right now.  Lisa Goblin is here and we are toiling dutifully.  Some news:

     – Grants – UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund is offering Community Partnership grants and their deadline is May 15.  We are hustling to get our application and a UC partner together in time.

    - SCORE – Was counseled by a retired executive and a lawyer from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), part of the SBA (Small Business Administration).  They recommended we not worry about the sign permit, focus on insurance and operating costs.

    - Inventory – We have hashed out a SKU (stock keeping units) and need to tag all the merchandise in the store.

    - Permits – Applying for zoning variance to use space for retail.  Trying to get landladies to allow us to deduct this expense from our rent.

    - Reseller’s – Only missing one corporate officer’s signature/copy of ID to complete this.  We will be able to buy from California suppliers at wholesale rates with this.

   – Fictitious Business Name – For Picky Fix.  Done.

   – Databases – For webhosting, Pickyfix members, and vendors.  In progress.  Hope this will make communications more timely and streamlined.

What’s next?  Next Open House for new members this Saturday, May 9 @ 5-7pm.  You’re invited!

Did I say free?  What’s the catch?  The deal is, we’re trying to drum up new membership, so we’re offering an introductory special.  Try out our services.  Meet some people in the collective.  Have your goods in our retail location on the Oakland-Berkeley border and our (coming soon! –photographers and models needed!) online catalog and see if you get some exposure.  Maybe something will sell.  It’s worth trying.

The catch is it’s limited to a few goods and those goods must be left at the store for a panel acquisitions review before we accept them on a consignment basis.  This is not the full-on, you get $1,000 worth of goods on display here vendor membership.  This is just a sample.

For details, inquire within: soledad@pickyfix.com or (510)655-6790

Long week (month?) of bureaucratic hurdles.

Went to the Finance Division.  Need Zoning clearance.  Went to Zoning.  Need building owner’s signature.  Went to landladies.  Neither is in.  Assistant in meeting.  Closed Fridays.  Will mail to you.  Next week = not mailed.  Follow-up e-mails.  Was redirected to different landlady.  Corrected.

Had to wait two weeks (2-wks!) for the zoning application to come back signed by the building owner’s representative.  

Resubmitted back to the City of Berkeley only to find that the location has not been permitted since 2000, when it was an “Internet Consulting” business.  Our lease is for retail, so I have to get a building inspector to come approve the change of use in a commercial district.  They only answer the phone from 8-9am and 4:30-5pm.  I diligently called the inspector for my use and district and held interminably…:::Yes, I’m holding for –zoning inpector–::: Oh, well.  You’d be holding a mighty long time then, since he’s on vacation.  :::But I was just there this morning and they gave me his card and told me to call at 4:30?:::  Call back when he’s back from vacation.

Went to County Clerk’s Office.  Did name search and registered fictitious business name for “Picky Fix.”

Need reseller’s permit.  Went to State Board of Equalization.  Wants signatures and copies of driver’s licenses for all officers of the corporation…one of whom is in Louisiana, neither of whom has a driver’s license.

Don’t even ask me how much they want for the sign.

 Can we say $1,500 minimum for “Design Review Board” approval?  Before you can even start building the thing!  Oh, Berkeley…there is a check box for “does the business involve marijuana” (I asked.  ”If you don’t check ‘No’, we assume ‘Yes.’”).  That made me chuckle.

The space is coming along nicely. I’m still not ready to take photos, but I wish I’d taken some “before” shots, because it’s really undergoing a transformation. We had the internet service hooked up last week. That was a laff riot at one of our co-op meetings where some potential members had strong opinions of which service provider we should use and how the installation should go. It went smoothly and has been working fine. Those members showed up for our “soft opening” on March 3 and brought friends, too. They were even happy with our present internet situation and plans for the future. All’s well.

I saw a billboard today, on my way into The City, for alarm company. It read, “Making Nothing Happen Since” whenever. I thought it a fine tag line for an alarm system and pictured the advertising copywriters that came up with it. How do we differentiate our product from others? What does an alarm do? Hopefully nothing. Hopefully it just monitors the good and deters the bad things from happening. How uneventful. How do we sell a non-event? Through the strength of its efficacy…etc…

This has something to do with the shop and gallery, because we had the alarm system installed yesterday. We took four competitive bids from security system designers and got the best contract, terms, and equipment we could (not) afford. Which is to say that I have personally lent more money to this endeavor to front the costs of the alarm and internet installations, because I believe in this endeavor’s success. I’m sorry to report that we were not able to go with either of the local companies I wanted. We couldn’t afford it and the equipment and the service were inferior. We’d be getting a lot less coverage for a lot more money. I did take an extra week and a half in order to even be able to get the two local bids and it was a big pain in the rear, so at least I tried.

The system we got is pretty neat. Won’t go into details here, for security reasons, but suffice it to say that there are dual motion sensors involved that sense motion and heat, so as long as our sophisticated cat burglars don’t happen to be reptilian or insects, I think we’ll be ok. I am still expecting microbial and fungal intrusion, but not much I can do about that.

I need to treat my antique furniture with more love and kindness next time we move. Still working on building the office and refurbishing the staff kitchen. More on that soon.

We are still refurbishing and decorating the space. All the wallpapering and most of the painting is done.  Extra special thanks to Founding Vendor Lisa Goblin for the painting and wallpaper cutting and mounting help.  Window treatments are still in progress.  We have ordered designer labels for our founding vendors and have made progress on the point-of-sale and bike rack fronts.

We will be open by appointment only for the month of March. Please call or e-mail to set up a time:

info@pickyfix.com

(510)655-6790

Thanks! and happy crafting!

Our evening co-op meeting and open house was the best yet! We even planned a pre-opening fundraiser:

Garage and Bake Sale
Sunday, February 22
11am-4pm
(set-up at 10 am, no early birds)

at the shoppe
1908 Alcatraz Ave.
@ Dover
Berkeley, CA

Wow, this crazy experiment just might work! We now have THREE Founding Vendor Members! Thank you so much, ladies, for officially joining PickyFix. We couldn’t do anything without your support and participation. Not to mention the fact that their wares are all gorgeous! Our store is going to be full of the finest handmade treasures and all made locally.

Our next co-op meeting and open house is going to be in the evening to accommodate more members’ schedules…

Sunday, February 15 from 7-9pm

at our store
1908 Alcatraz Ave. @ Dover
Berkeley, CA 94703
near Ashby BART Station

Hope to see you there!

If you’re not ready to join as a vendor, you can still support our efforts with your generous contribution to the Pickyfix Collective, a program of Community OutReach Entertainment. Your donations are tax-deductible. (Sorry, but membership fees are not.)

Yes, it’s true. We are turning away artists whose primary media is printing (screen, transfer, etc) onto American Apparel pre-made newly manufactured garments. Yes, Southern California is closer than Asia, but we are not IN downtown LA. Until we open a shop there, this policy will persist.

Unless your garments are cut and sewn locally in fair working conditions or repurposed from used items, then they do not meet our “Made Here” standard, no matter how attractive they may be or how creative the design you have embellished with.