Sunday, January 30, 2011

Rental Box Shop



In recent years the Internet has spawned a wild increase in cottage industrialists. Working out of their homes, many of these folks buy their supplies and sell their finished wares through the net. But in Japan, they also have the option of the rental box shop where, for about Y5000 per month according to my friend, they can borrow a cube of space and market their goods. For many a hobbyist or closet crafts person this is the perfect, no-chocolate-mess solution.



Out of curiosity, I ventured into a rental box shop the other day in Kichijoji. A narrow slot of space with the manager/cashier's desk at the far end, it was lined on either side with little cubbies measuring about 1-foot square. Decorated by their individual proprietors, each box was like a mini-store and contained different, mostly handmade, merchandise, such as cell phone charms, cloth covered barrettes, painted paperweights etc. I wonder how scarves authored by a foreign knitter would fare ... Not likely to go that route but it is always an option.

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