A new shop in West Allis turns scraps into treasures for crafty people!
Here’s how it works: People donate unwanted art supplies (new or gently used) to 414 Art Revival (8004 W National Ave, West Allis, WI 53214), and the shop gives them a second life by selling them at low prices.
It joins other secondhand craft stores in Southeast Wisconsin, like Hello Happiness Creativity Center in Sheboygan and Magic Hands Creative Reuse in Milwaukee, that also create an accessible space for casual crafters, professional artists or interested hobbyists.
Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Julianna Jackson and Nate Carpenter, owners of 414 Art Revival, about their shop's community-focused mission.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Xcaret Nuñez: What inspired you to open up a secondhand craft store in West Allis?
Julianna Jackson: My mother actually owns her own secondhand art supply store in Alton, Illinois. So the nugget of the idea has been there for a while, but it was really the fact that I wanted a place where we could host cool events for the community and create a third space. I've been a full-time nail artist for the past five years. And I just wanted to start to branch out to do more events and things. So we started looking for a space, even without knowing what it was going to become. There wasn't anything that was drawing us to a specific area, so once we found this space in West Allis, we liked the area, and it all came together really fast — we were like, “What if we opened our own arts and crafts secondhand store?” And then we did it. We just jumped on it.
You had a big turnout for the shop’s opening day — why do you think people are itching for creative spaces like this?
JJ: I think affordability and sustainability are the biggest two [factors]. A lot of times when we get donations, it's such an amalgamation of different stuff. I think people like to have the ability to try all these different things, but it's expensive, so being able to go in and just grab a couple of things, I think, is really exciting for people. I've also seen a lot of people who use our store for inspiration – they just come in to see what we have and what it sparks. So I think it does make people feel like they're a part of something bigger to be able to see that someone else got life out of a project or some supplies they had before. I think it makes people feel connected, which is cool.
Can you describe what your secondhand craft store looks like and the types of items you sell?
Nate Carpenter: So the store's organized — One wall is fabric and yarn crafts, and all of that is sold by weight. The rest of the store, we have aisles and shelves that are all fill-a-bag. So you pick out a bag size that you like, put your items in the bag, and then just pay for the bag. Most items are not marked with a price, so you're not paying for each thing individually when you check out. We also have some tables in the back that are gonna be used for classes and workshops, as well as a cream-colored wall that will host a featured artist.
Oftentimes, a lot of secondhand spaces, especially since they're accepting donations and selling them at low prices, turn into a nonprofit. Do you think you'll do something like that down the line to help sustain the business?
JJ: It's something we still honestly need to do more research about. We have started to keep an eye on different businesses to see how their structures work for them. So it’s definitely not something that we're opposed to… but we do think that there's a way for us to be a for-profit business that's still really community-focused. We are actively working on ways to give back to our community, even outside of our retail space. [For example,] we already re-donate things that we can't use for the store to places like Big Brothers Big Sisters and women's shelters. We also work with an artist who does art therapy for unhoused people. So we already have ways we're starting to do that, but we want to find even more.
How else do you envision this creative space serving the community?
JJ: We touched on it a little bit, but we are really excited to start offering classes. We want to have a huge variety of different topics that we have classes on, taught by local artists in the community. It's a big part of our belief and mission to support working artists. So we’re going to make sure that we can offer some free classes, but we also want artists to come in, choose their own ticket prices within a certain means and make money off their classes. So we're really excited to see people actually make a career out of it too. Same thing with our featured artist section; we want to have a monthly featured artist, so every month we'll have different artists on our back wall that can sell their art all month long.
414 Art Revival’s first workshop is Sunday, Sept. 27 from 12-1:30 p.m. You can sign up for this event and future events on their website. Donations are also currently paused – sign up for 414 Art Revival’s newsletter or follow their Instagram to stay up-to-date.
