urbane life blog feature 5.1.09

catching fireflies: using social media to support indie artists and eco values

by Dominique King

New technology, hand-crafted items and inventive recycling may seem like an unlikely combination, but April McCrumb is as adept at using social media tools to promote her Berkley business as she is at promoting independent artists and creatively reusing found items to create a cheerful environment at Catching Fireflies.

 

April uses an array of online promotional tools like a Web site and social media tools like a blog, Twitter and Facebook to promote independent artists and eco-friendly merchandise.

“It does take a lot of time, but it’s viral, guerilla marketing,” she says of her social media efforts.

The path to becoming an online-savvy merchant began in a far more traditional and offline way, though.

April began an entrepreneurial career by selling her handmade paper, cards, frames and books at area art fairs while she was still an Eastern Michigan University student in the late 1990s.

April graduated from EMU with a degree in special education as the mobile art business continued growing. Eventually, she and husband Steve took the scary step of leaving behind the idea of teaching careers and committing full time to the papermaking and gift business.

 

In 2000, the couple opened a wholesale business with a small retail section to help defray some of the expenses in a former pharmacy building at 3117 W. 12 Mile in downtown Berkley.

The store became a colorful and cheerful environment with the help of a lot of paint and April’s creative use of found and recycled objects to create display racks, shelving and storage spaces.

The retail store eventually took over the entire Berkley space and the art studio moved to another nearby building. Catching Fireflies currently has a second retail location in downtown Rochester at 203 East University, in addition to the Berkley store and an ever-growing Web presence.

“We have everything, including the kitchen sink here,” says April during my recent visit to the store in downtown Berkley.

She’s not kidding. An old kitchen sink serves as a display area for kitchen-themed items.

The sink display, painted lengths of eaves troughs attached to discarded doors to create card racks and flea market finds like armoires repainted in a rainbow of bright colors are just a few of the creative ways April showcases her work and the work of other independent and eco-inventive artists at the store.

I loved the cool eco-style merchandise like photo albums with covers created from old vinyl record albums, recycled T-shirt tote bags and glassware made from recycled wine bottles or soft drink bottles.

Shoppers can also bag a special deal with a $30 purchase that earns them a 50-percent discount on a roomy reusable shopping tote regularly priced at $9.

 

The work of independent artists figures prominently at Catching Fireflies, where the search for interesting merchandise takes April everywhere from the major industry gift shows to local art shows and sites like Etsy.

“Etsy was a huge revelation. I wish there was something like that when I started my papermaking business,” she says of the online marketplace for buyers and artists creating handmade goods.

“We’re able to carry a lot more local stuff in the store because a lot of local artists do more one-of-a-kind pieces rather than production.”

Artists whose work fits the funky flavor of the store can place their work with the store on commission.

“We carry more non-traditional gift items—things that are more funky and a maybe little cheeky.”

Catching Fireflies gathered more than 900 fans in the first few months following their Facebook debut, but shoppers at the local store are among the store’s biggest fans.

April especially appreciates her local customers and recently wrote a post on her own blog about how buying at local businesses means more of the money stays within the local community.

“I want to make the store a comfortable place for customers to visit, but if you don’t have time to come to the store, you can shop online and sign up for free in-store pickup. That way you can shop locally and still have the luxury of shopping online at your leisure.”