Portland Arts and Crafts

03/10/2017

Need a lot of postcards in a hurry? Portland Arts and Crafts is your best source for low-cost postcards for your political campaign. These are authentic postcards, having extra dimensions of interest, sometimes as historical documents, local views, or perhaps depicting topics thematically aligned with your campaign. And these postcards are pretty much all different. Your grass roots won't be mistaken for astroturf.
Cards start at $10 for 100, plus shipping.

05/12/2016

Since Crafty Wonderland didn't want me to sell my "stash" books with them, I'll be taking these to "Rerun" in Northeast Portland. (Cat not included)

10/29/2015

The Dollar Scholar is, sadly, gone forever, victim of rising rents and small business burnout.

But the opportunity still exists. We're hoping to re-create a bit of that retail magic at one or more locations in the Portland, Oregon area. For the Dollar Scholar store, we supplied a beautiful rotating wire rack holding 5000 vintage postcards sorted into more than 50 categories, leading to solid daily sales and attracting new shoppers to the store. On a $/square foot basis, sorted vintage postcards were among their top performers.

The same thing might work for your small business. Cafes, bookstores, dollar stores, thrift stores, general stores that might also sell stationery, any store that caters to tourists, any of these would be good candidates for a vintage postcard rack from Portland Arts and Crafts. Like other card racks, all cards are in like-new condition, and ready to send (or keep). Unlike other card racks, nearly all the cards are different, meaning that customers may well linger, buying 10, 20, or more cards at a time. And since they are sorted into different categories (including, for instance, Oregon Coast, Cats, Horses, Airplanes, Presidents, Grand Canyon, Michigan, Amsterdam, etc...), well, there's something for everyone, and the finding is easy and fun.

We tailor the rack(s) and the mix of categories based on your preferences (need more cards of Greece and Italy to sell at your deli? postcards of deer to coincide with the start of hunting season? etc) . We periodically re-stock and update categories. All you do is provide floor space (4 square feet?) and take money from customers.

If you think you'd like to convert 4 square feet of your store into a money-making vintage postcard kiosk, please drop us a line. We'd love to have the chance to see if we can make it work for you too.

09/09/2015

We've submitted our proposal for selling products at the upcoming Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale!
(Saturday + Sunday, December 12th + 13th)

While we're known for our postcards and magnetic art pieces, we will be selling only "StashBooks" at the upcoming sale (assuming they approve us for a booth space).

We've followed CW for many years (and have occasionally written blog posts about it). It's always impressed us when folks have been able to give a new life to items that would otherwise be thrown away. Their efforts have inspired us to demonstrate the great variety of consumer items that can be used in the construction of "StashBooks".

The 4 photos submitted with our application can be seen below...

09/09/2015

Everyone has a secret, and so do these books.

They were on their way to "book heaven" (a little library in upstate New York), when they were rescued, "modified", and given a second chance at being valued.

09/09/2015

Looks are intentionally deceiving. What appeared to be an old hardbound book is actually a container for hiding valuables or for holding items one wants to keep private.

The book (at least part of it) gets a second life, and extra materials destined for landfills can be used to form the hidden box.

09/09/2015

Picture frames, small trays, boxes from games (for example) all can be re-used instead of being thrown away.

Note: Most of these types of boxes work better when used flat instead of upright, depending on what is to be stored.

09/09/2015

A plastic case designed to hold a VHS format tape is hidden behind a hardback book cover.

Separately they are unwanted, and headed to the landfill, or to be "merely" recycled. Together, they have a second life as a secret container for holding valuables.

04/10/2012

I'll have a table at the annual Webfooters Postcard Show (http://www.thewebfooters.com/html/annual_show___sale.html). This is the only show I do, so if you want to see my full inventory, this might be your only chance. I'll be bringing about 100,000 postcards, covering all topics, and every country. I specialize in European and 3rd World postcards, but also carry 20,000 postcards of the United States, sorted by city and state. I sell a wide range of *topical* postcards (related to a topic rather than a location), especially related to pop culture, transportation, and plants and animals.

Where some dealers only carry vintage or antique postcards, I also carry modern ones as well. (note: by modern, I mean cards created since the 1970's!) Depending on the category, half my cards are "modern". I'm able to offer most of these modern cards for 50 cents apiece, with discounts for club members, and for buyers who buy larger quantities. Older cards generally range from $1 to $3, with most selling for about $1.

From North Portland, I-5: take Exit 307 to Marine Drive East to 33rd Avenue. Turn south onto 33rd and go 2 blocks. Turn left at 10000 NE 33rd Drive.

12/29/2011

Still working on the sales channel angle, people. Businesses in Portland *should* be wanting to have my postcard kiosks generating 100's of dollars of sales per month. I should be having to tell most of them why they probably don't have a business that goes well with it, not hearing this from them.

Brick and mortar retail sales -- the next frontier!

11/23/2011

Portland Arts and Crafts manages the postcard rack at the Dollar Scholar at 3433 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland Oregon. Their number is 503-235-2222.

This rack contains thousands of antique, vintage and modern postcards sorted into over 60 categories.