Honeypress: Brick & Mortar Store At Last!

Origin Story

Honeypress is a shop focused on sharing the joy of stationery through representation, pride, and appreciation for diverse cultures, particularly the Asian community. Honeypress sells a wide variety of products, including notebooks, planners, correspondence cards, magnets, keychains, and more.

I started Honeypress in April 2021 not sure where the venture would take me. It was supposed to be a strict e-commerce venture, but as soon as I discovered the beauty of pop-up markets, I knew that my business would need to evolve into an in-person entity. There's something about stationery that requires you to look at and touch it to truly appreciate it.

Honeypress grew much quicker than I ever imagined it to. We grew our community over the last year and a half with attendance at Triangle Pop-Up markets, Asia Fest, Animazement, Falling for Local, and much more. I've loved getting to talk to and get to know each of you, especially those of you who like me have long desired a store like Honeypress to show up in the area.

The time is now to make that dream a reality.

The Space

I'm still pinching myself at how all of this happened. I was feeling a bit listless a couple of months ago, wondering how I was going to keep Honeypress alive without a physical store. I came up with the idea of a stationery vending machine, got the quote, and designed what it would include. I started sending out cold emails to see who would be willing to allow me to place this product in their space. After all, there was no sense in moving forward in production if there was no place to put it.

Long story short, this provided me with the opportunity to meet with someone from Boxyard RTP. If you aren't familiar with this location, it's AMAZING! There are a bunch of old shipping containers that have been constructed to make this great social space. Triangle Pop-Up has done a lot of markets in this location, and all of the businesses in the project are truly local to the area. We had a great conversation and essentially -

WE GOT THE SPACE AT BOXYARD RTP!

It's an opportunity that I cannot turn down and am extremely grateful for. I truly could not do this without y'all's help. Now, I'm asking for a little more help.

What You Are Backing

Make Honeypress into a reality

Transitioning from pop-up markets to full brick-and-mortar is a huge shift. While I am grateful that I can avoid the set-up and breakdown that markets require, I have a lot of furnishings and displays that I now need to acquire.

I also need to get all of the classic store updates - improved Point of Sale system, sustainable packaging and shopping bags, security system, and decor. I want to make it pretty for y'all!

Fill the Space

I rarely ever purchase more than 10 of a product at a time. Since I only have one or two markets a month and the occasional online sale, I haven't needed to order more. Animazement and Asia Fest opened my eyes that if I had a physical space with consistent hours, I need to make sure that I have enough inventory to satisfy demand. Shipping from Japan takes a long time, and I would hate for a product to run out in a day that would force people to wait a month for it to be restocked.

Expanding my inventory also includes new inventory! You can only fit so much product on two six-foot tables. But with 320 sq ft, the possibilities are endless! I can provide more variants of products that I currently have, introduce new anime products, and add products of local creatives and artists. I've been cautious to stock their products in Honeypress because we are often at the same markets. Now that Honeypress is gaining a physical store, it's another platform to uplift, support, and love local.

Grow our team

Honeypress has been for the most part a solo venture from its inception. Yes, I have my husband help me at markets, but he has his job to tend to. I also need to make sure that I have a good team to fall back on that can help with the day-to-day sales, merchandising, social media fun, and community building. I want to make sure that I can provide a fair wage, especially given the handoff of duties from my plate.

Stretch Goals

If we surpass our goals, here's what the extra funding will go towards