A new store in Delray Beach is giving South Florida artisans a way to sell their wares. Caloosa WaterWear, a coastal lifestyle brand, decided to become one of the featured artisans at the new Delray Beach Kollective located at 424 East Atlantic Ave. Caloosa WaterWear is based in the same city.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity and hope it is a great way for our local customers to be able to see the line and purchase it on a more regular basis,” says Rebecca Fordham, Caloosa WaterWear president.
Delray Beach Kollective is filled with locally made goods of 60 different artisans, all from the South Florida area. Each artist pays rent and take turns running the store.
“When I learned about this new shop, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity for Caloosa since the rent in our downtown area is not typically something we could afford on our own and it’s an awesome opportunity to bring Caloosa directly to our local customers who would like to try our shirts on before purchasing, or don’t have the time to wait for shipping from our online store,” she says.
Up until this point, Caloosa WaterWear had been based out of a warehouse in South Florida, where it designs and print its products in house. When Caloosa WaterWear was founded in 2016, it focused on retail sales from pop up shops and its website. In 2021, Caloosa expanded its offering and made the line available for wholesale to coastal boutiques.
“The great thing about selling to boutiques is that we can easily customize for each store, since we have full control over the design and printing processes,” says Fordham.
Caloosa set up its space in the Kollective on Nov. 16 and had its Grand Opening party on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.
According to Fordham, the response has been incredible so far. “Essentially we have only been in there a few weeks now and I’ve had to re-stock our merchandise several times a week. It’s also really inspiring to have a connection to other local artists and small business owners. We all get to learn about each other’s craft so that we can give the customers a better purchasing experience.”
She adds, “This opportunity has been a very positive experience so far hopefully a concept that will grow over time. Our customers, both local and seasonal love the concept and visit the store regularly. So many people want to support us and I find that when I’m in the store the customers are very inquisitive about which line belongs to me and want to purchase from the artisan that they just met.”
