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Now Seeking: A New Studio-Mate!

Amy Slosky Handmade Shoes is moving into a new studio, so her space inside Awl Together has opened up.

We are seeking someone who has an artistic practice or a small business (manufacturing/production, but also open to other uses) for a 1-year sublease. A space at Awl Together Leather provides you with walk-in customers, 24/7 studio access, a designated work area, and a storage closet to call your own, among other things.

Awl Together Leather is open to the public from Tuesday-Saturday, with 20-50 customers and clients coming and going a day. We have a doorbell that rings when the door opens/closes, but we also are often hammering, sanding and generally making noise. We currently have an eight-year lease in a 1,700 sq ft studio and are sub-leasing about 105 sq ft of dedicated floor space.

Awl Together Leather is a custom leatherwork and shoe repair studio, located in East Vancouver. We specialize in leather garment alterations and repairs, shoe repair, bag repair, small upholstery and custom leather goods. Ariss and Tess co-own the business and have a small team of incredibly talented staff.

We Offer:

Your own corner of the studio – complete with a storage closet
Display space in our showroom in the front entry to the business
Pet-friendly for well-behaved animals (no barking or chewing especially!)
Located inside the East Side Culture Crawl Zone
Space on the front doors for external branding
A covid-cautious and masked studio
A small kitchenette (sink, fridge, cupboards of snacks, espresso machine) and separate work sink in the bathroom
Wholesale access to all our suppliers
Use of our 4 x 8 ft cutting table, tools, and machinery with safety training
A secure studio, with window bars, a security alarm system and cameras
Internet access, heating; basic kitchen, bathroom, and office supplies (no A/C)
Printer, scanner, and shredder
An outside eating area (picnic table) in the back parking lot
Walking distance to Commercial Drive, Chit Chats (low-cost shipping), Fujiya, and Truck Stop Café
(Optional) Mentorship – if you need some guidance on submitting PST, taxes, licenses/insurance, etc)

We are open to:

An artist/small business in nearly any medium!
Sharing our tools, machinery, etc in ways that don’t interfere with the operations of our business
Someone who may eventually want to host classes, during off-shop hours
Someone installing shelving, storage or hanging art/etc in your area

We are not able to accommodate someone:

Whose business directly overlaps with ours (so no tailors or shoe repairers, but open to other leatherworkers!)
Who will have a high volume of customers coming and going with long intake periods
Who works dominantly with dangerous, toxic, or fume-heavy chemicals and materials (we have a ventilated spray booth/glue room, however, it is not big enough to set up shop inside)
Who requires large amounts of space to lay things out for days/weeks at a time
Who has staff or assistants who are in the space working during our shop hours
Who may need a dust-free or scent-free environment
If you require a quiet and peaceful workspace during daytime hours, this may not be the best fit

Accessibility:

The “downstairs” area that is up for rent has stairs access through our back loading bay or a two-step staircase coming from “upstairs”. Please see our full accessibility audit on our website which shows the access throughout the studio. A walk-through of our studio is posted in our Instagram highlights, viewable here.

Covid-19:

Our studio is very Covid-cautious. All employees wear masks, our customers are about 50/50. We are seeking someone who would benefit and happily participate in Covid-cautious behaviors.

Upon Moving In, we Require:

Liability insurance (typically 50-100$/month)
If a small business, a business license (or application submitted)
A damage deposit equal to one month’s rent

Cost and Terms:

The cost for the rent is $425-650/month. We are offering a sliding scale rate, to be discussed, based on machinery/space usage.
We base these costs on an 8.5% rate of our base rent and operating costs. Our main rent increases by $1/sqft every May and our operating costs are recalculated by our building’s management every January. This means two different rates throughout the year (usually 10-15$ increase mid-year).

Space can be available as early as April 15th, or as late as June 1st (although priority is given to May 1st move-in). This is a one-year lease.

To Apply:

Please send us a link to your work (website, Instagram, pics, etc) and a little about yourself. As we spend a fair bit of time at work, we are seeking a good fit for the space and team. Interested parties will be invited to an open house to see the space and meet in person. Applications close on Monday the 27th at midnight.

Email us at info@awltogetherleather.ca