Off Market Arts Brings Downtown to West Ashley

The owners of the new Off Market Arts in the Citadel Mall put their store together in about a week, but the concept had been simmering in John Laukaitis' mind for years.

Currently the store carries the works of 15 area artists and crafters from Laukaitis' photography to managing partners Jim Phillips' pottery and his wife Nina Reagan's jewelry to sweetgrass baskets to candles and stuffed animals. The store also carries some metal work, glass objects and locally made soap among several other items, and all of it is handmade by Charleston area residents.

"I'm interested in finding new artists with unique perspectives," Laukaitis said. "It was really hard for me when I was starting out to get into any space. It's especially hard for jewelers and photographers to get exposure."

Laukaitis and his partners want to expand the number of artisans who sell their work through the store and are looking for all kinds of styles and media. The store works on a consignment model with the artisans setting their own prices for their work and keeping 70 percent of that sales, the other 30 percent goes to the store to pay its bills.

Laukaitis, Phillips and Reagan began setting up their space last Saturday, the store opened on Black Friday.

"For this being our first day, we opened and hadn't done any outside advertising yet, we've been very well received," Phillips said.

Laukaitis said he chose the Citadel Mall spot for the shop over a stand-alone or shopping center location because the foot traffic in the mall is so much greater than he could expect in another type of setting. He'd seen that first hand a few years ago when he rented a kiosk in the mall.

"In a strip center the people really have to be making a trip specifically to your shop," he said. "Here there are so many people walking around the exposure is just so much better."

Laukaitis said he also got a great deal on the rent, which is cheaper than he could have gotten in other locations.

The idea is to bring some of the best examples of the types of art and crafts available at the City Market to West Ashley for the people who don't ever get down to the Market, or just simply don't want to fight the downtown traffic.

"We've been in the Market for years," Reagan said. "We wanted to offer some pieces from the Market here because so many people just don't make it down there. Here they can see a lot of the same things."

Due to the handmade nature of the products sold in Off Market Arts, the stock will change frequently, so customers will have reason to keep coming back for new unique items.

For any artists or crafters that are interested in selling their work at the store, Laukaitis and Phillips say the best thing to do is drop by the shop and get a feel for the space and how their work could fit in.

"Right now all of the artists we have have come through word of mouth and people we know," Laukaitis said.