Last week, one of our Entrepreneurship Week 2011 sponsors, Art Star Gallery & Boutique, was also the venue for our event with Michael Edmondson: How to Present your Business in 30 Seconds. Their beautiful space was perfect for accommodating the many people who came to the event, and it was hard not to get distracted by the array of paintings, prints, and handmade artwork that surrounded us.

Located in the Northern Liberties area, Art Star exhibits and sells handmade work and limited edition products by emerging artists in the form of handmade clothes, jewelry and accessories, dolls, ceramics, prints, and much more, and was described by Philadelphia Magazine as, “The city’s first cutting-edge craft shop.

The owners, Erin Waxman and Megan Brewster, both studied at Tyler School of Art and after graduating, discovered that there were limited venues in Philadelphia for emerging artists. The two worked together to start the first large scale arts and crafts show, the Art Star Craft Bazaar, in the summer of 2004. Beginning with about 25 artists, the Bazaar has exploded over the past 8 years, and this May 14-15 will feature around 160 local and national artists specializing in crafts, along with live music performances, all at Penn’s Landing.

After the positive response to the first Bazaar, Erin says that opening up a shop, something the pair had always wanted to do, was the logical next step. “It evolved naturally; we felt like there was a good response from the artists at the bazaar and the space opened up. It definitely took a lot of planning to start this business, but it wasn’t hard. It was something we both really wanted to do.”

Since everything sold in Art Star Gallery is made by outside artists, Erin and Megan put a lot of thought and effort into choosing which artists to include. Megan explains, “We love that we have well over 50 artists for whom we help provide a living, and when choosing artists, we look for uniqueness. We want something you can’t find in any other store in Philadelphia, and most pieces are handmade. We want to make sure we get stuff that our customers will really want.” And it’s this dedication from the owners that creates a strong sense of loyalty in their customers.

Megan says, “Once people find out about us, more times than not, they become frequent customers. We do a lot of things, like certificates based on previous purchases, to reward them for returning to us.” Erin agrees, saying, “In our neighborhood, since there’s not a lot of foot traffic, it’s really important that our customers keep coming back. Many people have told us, ‘I just come here now to buy my gifts—I don’t go anywhere else.’ And we love to hear that.”

Right now, Art Star is gearing up for next month’s Art Star Craft Bazaar, and has selected artists and pieces for the event that will continue to keep their customers coming back!