Hello,

Most of you probably know us by now, but if not, let me introduce you to Rocky Mountain Punk Nature Art & Oddities. We are a true Mom & Pop shop located in Lakewood, Colorado. We have about 35 local artists and makers under this roof, and we host monthly makers markets that bring us together with the community on a regular basis.

My husband (Joe) & myself (Emily) are artists in shop as well as the owners, and the production, advertising, remodel, relocation, community liaison, accounting, HR, inventory, asset protection, merchandising, pricing, online, shipping & receiving, janitorial, events, promotion as well as the front desk and all customer service. We wear a lot of hats around here, and that is okay. We knew what we were getting into with all that. But now we need your help, we cannot do this next step alone.

Our current lease is about to expire, and we need to find a new location (hopefully near our current spot). We are wanting to expand so we can offer you an even bigger and better selection of handmade art and rare vintage. The ability to do more with our artists, our vendors, and our community. We have been asked on countless occasions if we could host classes or workshops, and we would love to, but our current location does not allow for that.

We have a long term goal set in place that will include finding the forever home for us and Punk. This will involve selling our home, loans, zoning and all that. A lot of work that is not going to happen overnight, and we know that won't be nearly enough to make it happen. Yes, we have our sights set high, but that is just who we are. We are applying for loans and more traditional forms of funding, but being self-employed makes all types of loans almost unreachable. Banks do not look at being self-employed the same as being corporate employed.

We want to make this move as easy as possible for us and all of our artists & their art. Our lease ends at the end of this year. We are working with the landlord on a possible new lease, but nothing is finalized (and could take months). So without knowing, we are preparing to move. This would put our move out date right about Christmas. Not an ideal time of year to be moving.

Anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated and very well used.