There’s a new shop on Sixth Street in Amarillo that has been opened with artists in mind.
Izzy Belle’s Emporium, located at 2817 6th Ave. (west of Smokey Joe’s), is offering a safe, indoor spot for local artisans to display their work, have it insured and then sold without them having to be there.
The idea was the brain child of cousins Cynthia Johnson and Gale Stashi. Johnson had moved to Alaska way back in 1969, when her father took her up there. She fell in love with it and lived there for some 50 years, working a tough job with IVW University, National Brotherhood of Electric Workers, with the telephone company.
Eventually, when her family moved back, she decided she didn’t want to be left up there by herself. Johnson came to Amarillo to meet Stashi and her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in 50 years.
“They talked me into staying here,” she said with a smile. While in Alaska, Johnson got into nature photography and did some weddings but was uncomfortable getting into people’s faces. Johnson said she’s still trying to get used to being here because she didn’t have mountains and rivers to tell her which way she is going: “It’s just flat here.”
Johnson’s first thought was to start a second-hand store, but she realized that there were already a lot of them. So then she decided to do an art gallery, but then her cousin, Stashi, decided to be her partner in the business.
They did some markets and outdoor sales, but the wind blew so hard, it blew their tent up and scattered their wares everywhere. It was then that they decided to do a local art shop indoors, which could be open every day with artists not having to haul their artwork all over the place and pack it back up again.
Izzy Belle’s Emporium offers an indoor space open seven days a week. The store owners sell the original creations for the artists, and they carry insurance on the building and the contents so artists don’t have to worry about all that. They also have free wrapping and packaging provided. “On our opening day, June 28, we sold at least one of each artist’s products,” Johnson said.
Their artistic products have to be homemade. Their focus includes a young digital artist’s beautiful digital photos of sunflowers and other scenery with some artistic accents, as well as locally made jewelry, photos, baked food, candles, medicinal oils and some Texas-styled artwork out of rustic wood.
Johnson and Stashi also serve coffee to their customers, who can sit leisurely on their patio on the east side, full of shade.
Space rentals vary from 2’ x 4’ for $150 a month, up to 2’ x 8’ for $300. The store owners can be contacted by going to izzybellesemporium@yahoo.com or call 806-703-8491 for more information.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: New shop on Sixth Street in Amarillo opens for artisans
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
