Our Story
Young & Able was founded in December 2013 as an alternative online retail platform for small companies and local designers that we loved. We stressed the importance of quality and origin and wanted consumers to know and care about where their purchases come from. We find joy and inspiration in knowing each item we carry has been in the hands of a few hardworking craftspeople and designers.
Young & Able's vision is dedicated to transparency. Our site features stories and behind-the-scenes features demonstrating why and how a product is made - and who exactly made it. All things that we are curious about and conscious of when sourcing designers and items for the site.
We strive to build a community connecting makers and shoppers through producing exciting events. Read more about our mission here.
#KnowYourMakers
What is Series?
Series is a monthlong collaborative pop-up space featuring a curated program of designer & maker talks, workshops and products created for you.
Dates & Times: We will open on November 21st and close on December 21st. One solid month to discover amazing products and people in our space. Hours: 11am - 8pm everyday (subject to change based on events).
Location: A big and bright space on 345 Broome Street (between Elizabeth & Bowery), New York NY 10013
#YNASERIES
Series will mark Young & Able's first extended brick and mortar shopping experience. Beyond being a curated pop-up retail space, we will hold a series of meet-ups and educational talks for aspiring entrepreneurs and all types of creative folk. Workshops where visitors can meet the makers will be focused on using newly learned skills in creating special handmade objects to take home.
Young & Able will curate a monthlong holiday "market" featuring the latest work from emerging designers & makers, while uncovering their stories and aspirations. Together, we can create a collaborative space that facilitates conversations and creates connections between shoppers, product enthusiasts, and all types of individuals within creative industries. There is so much new talent in NYC (and all over the world), pursuing incredible things with their craft. We want to put the spotlight on them.
Our goal is to raise funds to make our vision for this project a reality, and we need YOU to make it the best that it can be. We've dreamt up some amazing opportunities for you to participate and be a part of this event in hopes that you will be inspired to be creative in your everyday lives.
The Plan
We want to make Series the best that it can be for the community, open and free to the public. We will design an area with seating and a large workspace table to exchange dialogue and hopefully be a place for collective projects and gatherings. Our space should be a spot to meet likeminded individuals, and most importantly, a space to discover an amazing new product and brand. Series will provide a schedule of hosted events to foster communal experiences in our bright and beautiful space on Broome Street.
The designers have already covered the cost of renting our space for a month. We are passionate about raising the money to present their work beautifully.
Our Anticipated Space Design:
Our budgeted project goal will cover the cost of:
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Display Design, Build Out and Materials: Tables, Chairs, Signage, Shelving, Lighting, & Racks.
Kickstarter Fees, Reward Production and Fulfillment For Backers
Event Production, Supplies & Maintenance
How You Can Help
Why have we reached out to you through Kickstarter?
We've joined the Kickstarter community to seek collaborators, partners, supporters and friends to undertake this exciting new endeavor together. You can help us shape Series!
Why should you donate to Series?
Sponsor the Maker Movement! When we conceived Series, we knew we wanted it to be a collaborative effort, a project that would grow and improve from each and every individual committed to the mission. Above all, the workshops, talks and events taking shape at Series are for the community to enjoy and learn about their own creative "maker" side.
We believe that a shared passion for small local businesses and shopping quality, ethical and slow fashion is taking hold on consumer culture. We are so grateful and overjoyed that you have chosen to support not only a small business, but a growing movement towards conscious commerce. We've noticed this shift with the emergence of new indie designers carefully focusing on their production, as well as e-commerce sites and blogs dedicated to the cause. By supporting Series, you are endorsing our generation of thoughtful independent designers and the revolution they represent. We hope that every informed purchase will to contribute to a transformative impact.
Refinery29, Brooklyn Magazine, and EcoCult are saying some wonderful things about our designers too!
Rewards
Our Rewards for backers include exclusive handmade items by Young & Able designers just for Series backers, as well as some pretty cool opportunities to sponsor and host events in the Series space. Please contact us at any time if you would like to discuss opportunities to collaborate with Series in any capacity.
Below are two awesome ways to work with a few of our local contributors (and talented friends!): Kristi Scarrozzo, Emily Malan and Tiago Chediak
Risks and challenges
Over the past few months, we have carefully grown Young & Able designer by designer to create a talented community we are proud to support. We would be so grateful if you could contribute in any way that you can, even if it's simply clicking "share" to help spread the word about our project with your friends, networks and press.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, Rosa jumped into founding Young & Able with the belief that she could help her peers in a direct way. We continue pursuing our mission to support designers and facilitate lasting relationships between makers and consumers.
Although Series is our most ambitious event yet, we've had experience planning and producing successful pop-up shops and events in the past. With a ton of positive feedback, we figured it was time to brainstorm bigger and better events in NYC for the young, burgeoning talent. We felt that with so many temporary pop-ups that come and go in a weekend, it would be worthwhile to invest some time into rethinking what a retail pop-up could really achieve with a strong community of supporters behind the makers and products.
We are so excited to have Series come into fruition, after months of bouncing around ideas and weeks of careful planning and preparation.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your encouragement and help!
Young & Able
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Funding period
- (30 days)