After being an exclusively online store for six months now, and as I reflect on the past five and a half years, one thing has become clear: Drizzle & Shine was meant to be an in-person experience.
November 30th will be the last day to shop online. After that, I'll be shuttering the store indefinitely. Every single item online is on sale. Shipping is still free for orders over $50. Keep an eye on Instagram for brand spotlights. Just because we're not selling eco-friendly vegan wares doesn't mean they're not out there. Almost every brand we've carried has its own website. I wanted to have a physical store so people could touch and feel the merchandise. I wanted to make connections with people and have valuable conversations about the perils of fast fashion, the benefits of organic materials, and how veganism can extend into our wardrobes. And I did. My staff and I worked at Drizzle & Shine partly because we love fashion, but also because we love this earth, and the animals who inhabit it. We wanted to make good purchasing decisions, and share what we learned with others. The beauty of a physical location is that we had a lot of walk-in visitors. People who saw cute clothing in the window and came in to shop. A lot of people left knowing a little more about the environmental impacts of our fashion choices--and that we don't have to sacrifice style to do good. It's harder to convey that behind a cyber wall. A small portion of our customers were vegans who understood the mission of Drizzle & Shine. To you, I give a heartfelt thanks. You were the life blood of the business. A bigger portion of customers were Capitol Hill locals, Kaiser Permanente staff and patients, and curious by passers. To you, I also say thanks. You opened your hearts and minds to something new. That's huge! The summer pop-up we participated in this past August reminded me of how energizing an in-person experience is, and how this store can't do what I want it to do without that connection. We've endured lockdowns, limited capacity shopping, reduced hours, mask mandates, and more. I'm truly thankful for every single person who kept us afloat for 20 month of challenges. Perhaps there's another retail location in the future. A post-pandemic store in a neighborhood where my staff feel safe and we can meet in person again. Keep voting with your dollars, and ask yourself "who made my clothes?" Thank you so much <3 Jean |
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November 2021
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