Minnesota Artisans Lead Amazon’s Digital Pop-Up Shop for Handmade Goods
A handful of Minnesota businesses boasting hand-crafted pottery, clothing, jewelry and home goods are being featured in a digital pop-up store running on Amazon through the end of the year.
The highlighting of local craft goods comes from a partnership between the American Craft Council (ACC) and Amazon Handmade, a branch of Amazon’s e-commerce store dedicated exclusively to artisan-made products from around the world.
Amazon launched its Homemade store three years ago as a way to give its customers an easier option to discovering one-of-a-kind and handcrafted goods that typically wouldn’t land on the shelves of big-box stores.
“Beautifully handcrafted products from American Craft Council artists that are found at craft shows and local events can now be shopped by millions of customers on Amazon for all of their holiday gifting needs,” said Katie Harnetiaux, global head of marketing for Amazon Handmade, in a statement.
The ACC selected over 80 artisans to sell their products on the Amazon Handmade pop-up shop.
This year’s selection of Minnesota-made items include hand-painted scarves and towels from Indigo + Snow; sculpted bowls and kitchen utensils from Cannon River Bowl and Spoon; porcelain ceramics and pottery pieces from Autumn Higgins; and more products from other vendors.
All in all, 24 states and the District of Columbia have artisans on Amazon’s pop-up shop, but no state is represented as strongly as Minnesota. Currently, over 400 Minnesota-made products are available on the shop, with Maryland and California being the only other states with more than 200 products available.
ACC executive director Sarah Schultz said in prepared remarks that intention of the partnership from the beginning was to increase the economic opportunities for its represented artists. “What better way to share the value of their handmade items than on Amazon,” she said.