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Support our Design + Craft Community at POST

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POST is a retail store, craft education space, and design/production studio in Detroit. Clare Fox and Wayne Maki, also known as Mutual Adoration, opened POST in October of 2017, in an empty U.S. Post Office on the far East side of the city. Though Mutual Adoration had been steadily growing since 2012, to take on such a big project in a neighborhood lacking density, business support, and foot traffic was a little crazy. While this idea may have looked risky on paper, our mission felt greater than the risk. We believe in the importance of craft, community, and making things by hand. Through our hard work, commitment to quality, and by generously sharing our knowledge and skills, we have become a positive force in our community and a powerful advocate for other artists and small businesses. 


POST is now facing a very scary and perilous situation. Our business was built on community - face to face relationships, collaborations, and gatherings of shoppers, students, and instructors - but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary closure of retail and education spaces, everything changed overnight. This shutdown is undoubtedly the healthy and responsible thing to do for the greater good but it is killing our business. We are asking for your support to help us weather this uncertain time.  


We are rapidly running out of cash to cover our costs; payroll, rent, taxes, utilities, insurance, and liabilities. Our operating expenses average $25,000 each month. Small business grants and the federal stimulus package are helpful, but are simply not enough. As a small business with slim margins, taking on additional loans with no guarantee of when POST can safely reopen would be wildly irresponsible. Without additional financial help, we will not make it. We know that everyone is struggling right now but we need help. We never thought we’d be at this point, but here we are. 


The truly heartbreaking thing is, POST was actually working! As of March 14 of this year, our retail sales were up 32% and our workshop registrations were up 66%. The revenue generated goes directly to our creative community. We have taught over 450 workshops in our studio and paid out over $109,000 to 63 craft instructors. Through retail sales we have paid out over $232,000 to 282 independent artists/makers. 


We started this project knowing it was a little crazy but the support and enthusiasm has been incredible. Our community has really come together and we have built something very special together. We knew that we could curate a beautiful store, host interesting workshops, and events but we didn’t know that POST would become such an important part of so many people’s lives. We are so proud of the relationships, collaborations, and successes that have been developed here. We don’t want to go anywhere! We want POST to be here for a long time!


We are scared but motivated. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve our community, create jobs and income for talented people, and we’re especially thankful for your support. If you can comfortably afford it, please donate to this campaign. All of the money donated will help to re-open the doors at POST. While we are closed, please shop our website at www.mutualadoration.com  Though our business was not built on e-commerce, we’re working hard to get new products online, and we’re still shipping out orders. If you cannot afford to donate or shop, there are several other ways to help - follow/tag/share our posts on social media and leave us a review on Google or Yelp. You can even share this fundraising campaign with your friends and followers. Any and all support is so appreciated!

#SmallBusinessRelief

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Donations 

  • Antonia Gibson
    • $50 
    • 4 yrs
  • Holly Feen-Calligan
    • $10 
    • 4 yrs
  • GoFundMe.org
    • $500 
    • 4 yrs
  • Michael Veltman
    • $20 
    • 4 yrs
  • Amy Ferguson
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

Clare Fox
Organizer
Detroit, MI

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