As One Door Closes...

Another one opens. That's how the saying goes isn't it? Over the last week or so the Made In The Shade gals sure have been feeling a little bit like the poor wee crisp packet that gets stuck in the revolving gate. Are we coming? Are we going?
 
Part 1 - The Door That Closed
 
As y'all know, The Lighthouse in Glasgow has been under the management of administrators at PWC since the end of August. With help and support from the remaining staff at The Lighthouse and the willingness of the troupe of volunteers we managed to recruit at the last minute, we were able to go ahead and host our Autumn edition of the Made In The Shade boutique shopping event in Galleries 4 & 5 in September. Over 40 designer makers showcased work of a fabulous standard and we managed to attract over 800 visitors to our little indie shopping shindig. Although customer footfall was lower than we'd seen previously, we were pretty pleased with the outcome of the day - considering the majority of people we spoke to were under the impression that activity at The Lighthouse had ground to a halt and that the building was closed! Since September, we've been gearing up for our next, and final installment of the Made In The Shade event of 2009. Thrilled to hear from our contacts that it was real likely that Made In The Shade would be setting up shop at The Lighthouse again for our second annual Festive Shopping Weekender on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, the gals and I set to work on producing the DIY shopping event of the year – with added Christmassy spirit and tinselly cheer.
 
Sadly, we didn't get too far in our plans. This week I received a phonecall from our lady at The Lighthouse confirming that a date has now been set for the official dissolution of The Lighthouse Trust and that The Lighthouse building will be returned to the hands of Glasgow City Council in the coming months. The administrators have taken the decision to cancel all events in late November and December and no further bookings will be taken. In short, the Made In The Shade event is homeless. Again. How sad that our last event at The Lighthouse was 'The Homecoming' – and now we've been evicted for the second time. Jeez, Louise.
 
Our efforts to come up with a suitable contingency plan this time around have not been at all successful. We can't find a venue big enough, affordable enough or central enough and we can't find many venues that are just plain available. We also have a tough time trying to find a venue that fits well with our business ethos and the general feel of our event. For the time being, we're putting our search on hold. We've decided that this year, the Festive Shopping Weekender will need to morph into a slightly different creature and that we'll work our socks off to try and find a new home for our seasonal shopping events in 2010.
 

Part 2:  The Door That Opened
 
It's true, that thing about the doors. There we were, standing in the middle of the floor with dropped jaws and watery eyes fearing that our events business is doomed, then the next minute,  guests started to arrive, smiley faced and 'whoop'-ing at our private viewing party at The Maisonette – our all new retail, gallery and showcase space. As our friends and family arrived and we saw their reactions to our new home, things seemed brighter. Boutique Shopping Events? We got the boutique. We got the shopping. Now we just have to lay plans to make sure that every day at The Maisonette feels like a Made In The Shade event! Easy. Aherm.  We'll do our best!