On three ideas for speculative shops…

For a while I've been thinking about a loose side project idea I'm calling "Spec Shop", based around ideas for a strange speculative online store. I put out a call for collaborators a while back:

Spec Shop: Call for Collaborators

The plan: launch a speculative storefront for small experimental products made with friends. (WIP: making this on Metalabel!)

I since got sidetracked with moving and other, non-side project work, but have been thinking about this more on the back burner.

One impulse here was wanting a container to do small fun experimental collaborations with friends. And to mix that with a playful subversive approach to selling things on the internet…

But an issue I found: I didn't have a very clear idea what that might look like, either in the process, or what products I might sell! The best I came up with was things like "creative prompts" or "pop-up social experience" or "file collections".

I had some great chats and bounced around ideas with a few friends, but they were all over the map and not super concrete.

So lately I've been thinking about this more and I'm coming to the conclusion that the medium should be the shop itself.

Spec Shop, then, is not an abstract shop as umbrella container for selling experimental items; it's a lens by which I might experiment with a series of different speculative shops, that each stand alone and do something interesting and playful!

Still lots to figure out, but so far I have three spec shop ideas I think it'd be fun to play with:

Spec Shop idea: bookstore in a basement fridge

I have an extra fridge in my basement, and want to fill it with books and make it a tiny hidden bookstore.

Once filled, I could host an opening or some kind of periodic events where people could browse and purchase, perhaps in atypical ways (like pay what you want, or tip me + buy it online yourself, etc.)

It'd also be fun to get friends to bring books as well, either to sell or just to have on display as part of a rotating collection / guest curated temporary exhibit.

This gets at kind of a bookstore as museum direction I also find an interesting lens! I'll have to think more about what makes sense for browsing / purchase / collaboration mechanisms.

Spec Shop idea: experiential lemonade stand

It's summer and I thought it coud be fun to try a lemonade stand that bundles drink plus experience!

Lots of simple ways that could start with just buying a lemonade but actually include some kind of fun small social dynamic…

As with the bookstore idea, I like this because it's a physical 'store' I could easily do from my own home…thinking about online versions could be fun too though, like a Metalabel shop (still want to try something there). The Arena gift shop Laurel manages is a great example! It'd be fun to do something collaborative too!

Spec Shop idea: roving consigment shop

I'd like to get one of these vests with many many pockets, and fill them with goods to sell while walking through the park.

The products could be little treats, tiny handmade items, not sure…the act of buying and selling while meandering through nature is the key part, I think :)

Maybe I invite people to track my location for a few hours…or just hold up a sign. Maybe I include a handwritten receipt or other small ritual with each purchase (some kind of documentation could be interesting).

And maybe I do it as a consignment shop, where I get creative friends to contribute little items they've made and split the proceeds!

Next up, try some experiments!

Not sure to what extent I'll make these collaborative, but I think so far I like the idea of having guest contributors in some form, maybe more than a series of projects structured around 50/50 collaboration. The latter I still think would be fun, but hard to coordinate and not sure I have the bandwidth.

For now I think I could do a prototype version of each of the above three things more or less on my own — or with whoever answers a casual call to contribute or participate — so I'd like to start there!