Whether you stumbled upon our shop by chance, or sought us out after hearing about us from a friend—we miss you! It’s been eight months now of working from home, closing the shop and studio doors in light of COVID-19. It feels forever ago that we’d hear the door chime go off when someone would step into the shop, simultaneously triggering August, the resident Shiba-Inu, to bounce up and greet everyone with her ‘friendliest’ bark (the mailman begged to differ—we’re sorry!). We never really knew who would be on the other side—a familiar face, a new one, a group of enthusiastic friends gathering around the stationery table.
These small interactions sprinkled throughout our days, giving us an excuse to get up from our desks to stretch our legs. The best part was the surprising connections we’d make with complete strangers. It could start off with the mutual excitement around the new ceramics in stock, the stainless steel letter openers, or the always inviting hand carved animals by T-Lab. Then we’d cover all sorts of topics, spanning music, travel, design, architecture, family, and food. Sometimes a conversation would last a minute or two — often, it would effortlessly stretch into the hour.
SORT started as a means to connect with the community on a more direct and intimate level, based in our mutual love for good design and appreciation for the everyday. Little did we know how that simple thought became so meaningful as a part of our day to day. We are so incredibly grateful for every encounter at the shop — please know how much joy you each brought into our lives. Thank you for sharing your stories with us, for being open to a confusing little shop that not everyone could understand right away. Thank you for coming out to our pop-up events, to the weekend calligraphy workshops, and for patiently checking in to see if something was for sale or just on display.
To our regulars, our August fans, our new acquaintances: keeping the doors closed hasn’t been easy. SORT has always been about relationships and community, and in an era of social distancing we haven’t been able to see you and it’s been hard. We weren’t and aren’t sure how long this will all last, so thank you for adapting with us as we take it in strides. Thank you for continuing to support us through in-store pick ups, Instagram DMs, and via the good and frequent reminder of, “Do you have an online store yet?”
This, the SORT website, has been something on the to do list since SORT started. But, as many of you know, we also operate a studio which tends to get priority over our personal projects. Over the few years we’ve been open, we have drafted and designed many renditions of the site, set up mini photoshoots in the back on off hours, and looked into the logistics of it all. I guess what it took was the shop to close to give us the time we needed to bring our vision to life. This all to say, welcome to the new sortdays.com, where you are reading this right now!
Thank you to our day ones, twos and threes for allowing us to do what we love and share it with people that have impacted and embraced us so positively. We are humbled and reminded during these times of how grateful we are to have created a community, one that wouldn’t exist without you.
