Open Call 2022

Occasionette Open Call applications are closed for 2022

Thanks so much for your interest! Please join the mailing list below for updates - we’ll post information here as we have news.

 

How will I know if my products have been chosen? 

We will contact the artists and businesses we are placing orders with via email by Aug 22, 2022 to place an order. Unfortunately we’re not able to contact each artist individually, so if you do not receive a response by Aug 22, we have decided to go another direction with our buying. 

 

What is Occasionette Open Call?

At Occasionette, we've always filled the shops with goods that we believe make great gifts. We receive so many amazing artist submissions for new products for the shops every day.

In the summer of 2019, we established Occasionette Open Call, a streamlined way for artists and small businesses to submit their product lines for consideration in our shops.

In 2020, we pledged to allocate at least 50% of our buying budget for Occasionette Open Call to BIPOC owned businesses. This year we will again allocate at least 50% of our Open Call budget to BIPOC businesses, and we’re also very excited to introduce a new aspect of Occasionette Open Call - the Mentor Program.

Open Call Mentor Program

In 2020, we pledged to allocate at least 50% of our buying budget for Occasionette Open Call to BIPOC owned businesses. This year we will again allocate at least 50% of our Open Call budget to BIPOC businesses, and we’re also very excited to introduce a new aspect of Occasionette Open Call - the Mentor Program. 

The Occasionette Open Call Mentor Program is a chance for two Open Call applicants to receive free wholesale consulting from Occasionette owner & creative director, Sara Villari. Before opening the first Occasionette shop in 2013, Sara ran her own wholesale line of illustrated tea towels and gifts, selling to over 500 independent shops, as well as a handful of national retailers. This experience, coupled with years of buying for the Occasionette shops, gives her a unique perspective on what produces success for a wholesale line. 

The Mentor Program includes: 

  • monthly 45 minute consultation calls with Sara for six months

  • wholesale linesheet and catalog review

  • product and pricing evaluation 

  • features on @occasionette social media and email blasts highlighting your brand 

We love that the Occasionette Open Call process supports independent artists and producers by providing an easy and free way for them to present their lines to our buying team, while bringing fresh and fun new goods to our customers in the shops.