CiB Shop – here’s how you can get involved

If I’ve been a bit quiet recently, it’s because work’s been a bit busy. And in my spare time I’m opening a shop in the UK’s busiest shopping centre. So yeah, busy.

I’ve had a fair few emails from people offering their support, goods, services and selves. Which is lovely, thank you very much. However, it’s also utterly unmanageable, so I’ve knocked up some forms for people to fill out (below). That’ll help me make sense of everything. Sorry if I’ve not emailed you back, but you’re in good company.

Before those forms, you should know what you might be getting involved with:

Opening date

5pm on Thursday 25 February 2010.

Plan

Here’s how it’ll work:

• Stalls. There’ll be four stalls; two either side of the shop near the front door. We’ll rent these out on a daily basis. To start with they’ll cost £30 Mon-Fri and £50 Sat and Sun. For the amount of footfall passing the unit that’s insanely cheap but, hey, we’re not in this for the money. Get in quick for those
• Walls. There’s a big chunk of wall that we’ll cover with photography, illustrations and paintings. There’ll also be some poster/print cradles for people to flick through. We’ll take a commission on sales
• Magazine rack. This has been liberated from Borders and we’re planning to fill it with books, zines and the like
• Other sellable stuff. Maybe not so much in the first week or two – I don’t want to be drowning in stock and I’m worried about smaller stuff being nicked. I can see us revisiting this as we get settled though, so please chuck ideas. Or rent a stall (that’s what they’re there for really)
• Event/hang out space. At the rear of the shop we’ll have a couple of sofas and some tunes. Maybe some films and some coffee/tea. Wireless internet, hopefully. DJs at weekends, perhaps?
• Flyers and posters. We’ll have a space for people to leave posters, flyers and business cards

Get involved

So, bearing all that in mind, if you want to play a part then please fill out the form that applies to you:

• Stalls
• Walls
• Other sellable stuff
• Events and such
• Staff

If you’ve got something to offer that doesn’t fit in a form then (and only then) email me at createdinbirmingham@gmail.com. I’m thinking things like shop furniture, advertising, funding, media coverage, that sort of thing.

NB – apologies in advance if we can’t (or won’t) accomodate your stuff/ideas. We can’t do everything and I hope you’ll appreciate that at least we’re trying to do something.

Updates

I don’t want the shop to disrupt this blog too much. If you want more regular updates and info then, on Twitter, follow @chrisunitt (me) and @createdinbrum. I’m also blogging the shop’s progress over on cibshop.wordpress.com.