By Vivian Nunez

The United States was hit by a terrible recession in 2008 and four years later it’s still trying to dig itself out of it. A small craft shop is a testament to how dynamic thinking is an essential part of the solution.  Little Shop of Crafts, a craft shop on 94^th Street, has managed not only to survive the recession, new competition, and the ever-growing rise in the craft trend, but also put smiles on children’s faces while doing it.

Children enjoy coming into Little Shop, “because it’s fun for them and they get to paint whatever they want,” said Alicia, an eight-year-old frequent customer since the age of three.

The atmosphere at Little Shop of Crafts is welcoming and just messy enough that, whether you are a kid or an adult, getting creative with your painting techniques is justified.  Yet, Little Shop of Crafts’ homey feel did not spring up over night. Since its grand opening seven years ago, Joy Patrini, the West Side store’s manager, has guided its growth by standing by one simple rule: “Our motto is lets stick to what we do and do it right,” said Joy.

Despite, craft stores having become a hot commodity in New York City, Little Shop of Crafts does see this as a negative. “There are a lot of craft studios similar to us, but they charge for time and they charge a studio fee, or you have to join, or you have to take a class in order for you to go.” said Joy,  “We’re very low key we just want you to come and relax.” Joy grounds herself on Little Shop’s vision and the fact that the first store Herb Goldberg, Little Shop of Crafts owner, opened is still thriving even after 25 years.

Kids and parents alike are able to find a safe haven in Little Shop of Crafts that takes them away from their daily lives. The staff at Little Shop is on constant alert to make sure the customers’ bonding opportunities are seamless. They understand that in “a lot of places the adults either are not satisfied or the children just don’t like going where the parents want to go,” said Dawn, Assistant Manager, but Little Shop “kind of draws right in the middle.”

In addition to bringing happiness to children on a daily basis, Little Shop is also beginning to target adults. As a result of the recession and a decrease from “10 parties a weekend to about 3 parties a weekend, if that,” said Joy, Little Shop has embraced adult evening hours, where adults are able to paint any ceramic in the store alongside a glass of wine.  “So Wednesday through Saturday we have adult evening hours and we serve complimentary wine for them,” said Joy. In addition to the wine hours over crafts, adults are also able to rent out the space for their bachelorette parties or bridal showers. Nonetheless, the profit evening hours and other adult parties bring in still does not match the 2,000-5,000 dollars a party commonly rakes in, but it is a steady complement.

The staff at Little Shop of Crafts acknowledges that their biggest roadblock is their lack of publicity and social media marketing initiatives, when compared to competing craft stores. “They just do a lot more PR,” said Joy, “so I guess their name is out there much more than ours so they took a lot of our business.” Little Shop of Crafts is currently working to improve their social media; they now have a Facebook page and are rolling out a Twitter page in the coming week. Despite their embrace of new media, word of mouth might still be their biggest asset.

“I would like to get a little bit more involved with the people passing by and letting them know that we are here,” said Dawn, Little Shop of Crafts Assistant Manager, “Let people know you can come in, relax, and feel like a child again.”

The spirit of Little Shop of Crafts, and the staff that keeps it alive, is not diminished by the amount of publicity a nearby craft store is getting.  Neither is it diminished by how the recession has made people “scared to spend money on birthday parties,” said Joy. The staff powers on with their faces painted and smocks on, quaintly resembling the lined ceramic figurines standing at attention throughout Little Shop.