Q&A Have you ever collaborated with another business?

Hello everyone, welcome back. 

Yes I have, and it was so much fun. 
It started when I attended a Rose City Comic Con as a vendor, I might have been a little out of place with all the comic books and collectables in the hall but I was having fun. I still made sales, enough to cover my table fees and then a little extra. 
Plus I had some awesome friends that day come to help me run the booth later in the day, which gave me the rare opportunity to go look around the site. 

It was when I came back that I had a gentleman come up to the table and introduce himself. His name was Shawn and he owned Rogues Gallery Comics. 
Rogues is an amazing store, it's two stories with your latest released on the first and older comics and collectable toys on the second floor. The whole thing is an explosion of color and characters. Every time you go in you notice something you missed last time on the walls, or ceilings. There's a poster on the ceiling, a hero on the light switch, action figures and comic book pages sealed in the checkout counter. 
The staff is also super helpful and kind, and I highly recommend Rogues Gallery Comics on Chatham Street (right across from the bus station) if you're ever in the Windsor area. Even if you aren't into comics, its a place you have too see. 

Windsor had just gotten the news the plastic bags were no longer going to be allowed in stores, due to their negative impact on the environment. Shawn upon seeing the multiple different super hero fabrics that I had mostly in scrunchie form in front him, asked if  would be able to make some re-usable shopping bags. 
I went over to his tables, and he let me take the measurements of a comic book, explaining that most people came in and bought up to five and it would be best if they fit kind of snugly in the bag to avoid any damage even though they were already in protective sleeves. Explaining that sometimes folks had their own comic book protectors at home and didn't opt for the ones he had in shop. 
I agreed later that night I went home and made a few mock up samples, later that week I met with Shawn with at the shop and dropped them off, when I came back with my friends to show them the shop. I learned that I should adjust my pattern to make them a little wider since the comic Shawn had given me the day of the con was an older one and not as wide as the modern day standard. 
I adjusted the pattern and thus began a pattern all its own. 

I would come by the shop to drop off these, pick up whatever money I had made from their sales, and do some shopping my own. When I was around 10 to 14 I was really into comics but I had stopped reading them as I moved into high school, I didn't have the time anymore. 
Now though, I wasn't in high anymore and I working a lot, so I had the income to continue where I left off. 

As time went on, Shawn offered me some vintage flat bedsheets with Spider-Man and Star-Wars characters on them, because he had provided me with fabric this time I split the portion of the profits with him. 

The bags did eventually slow down after a while, Windsor was making plans to allow businesses to go back to using plastic bags. There had been a major backlash from the community, a lot people hate re-usable bags. Which I can understand, it was fairly new at the time and for people who had spent their entire lives just getting bags for basically nothing from the stores they went to like groceries it must have been a rough adjustment. That and the fact that re-useable bags cost more than plastic because unlike the plastic ones, they are meant to last, so the price is validated there.
I personally never really saw the big issue, yes the first few times at the start of it all I bought bags every time I went grocery shopping. 
But today, and I think a lot of people can say the same, its become part of my routine to have phone, wallet, keys, and bag before heading out the door to the store, or simply bringing a tote bag as a purse for the day. I always do that when I'm not really sure if I will buy anything while I'm out.

To get back on topic, our collaboration kind of ended when I moved away from Windsor, so I haven't dropped off or mailed out any replacement bags since then. I still have lots of super-hero fabrics in my stash and some pre-cut pieces that just never got past a certain point in my assembly process. 
My plan it to hopefully turn them into patchwork tote bags in the future, not leaving any of them to waste. 
My overall take away from the experience was that it was awesome, and I would gladly collaborate with Rogues Gallery Comics again in the future if they're down for it. 
I'll always be thankful to Shawn for coming up to me that day at the Con and giving me that opportunity. Because through that, he gave me back my love for comics, and allowed me to share it with lots of friends in my life at the time and I would drag them all to the store to buy comics with me.   

Has your small business ever collaborated with someone or another business, let me know! 

Until next time, 
Sabrina

For question submissions please head over to the contact us section of the website.  :)