Workshoppe Chicago brings international stories to Evanston homes


Regardless of whether it is hand-woven baskets from California or decadent Turkish towels, co-owners Nicole Petsos and Vivian Afrik want to clarify to you how and where each individual artisan piece they sell was developed.

That is the small business they are fast paced setting up, Workshoppe Chicago, which will officially open up Sept. 10.

Pop-up retailers are not unfamiliar to Evanston – as viewed in galleries this kind of as Artem Pop-Up Gallery on Sherman Avenue and those people hosted by Evanston Made. 

Soaps and handcrafted candles from Tatine, a female-owned studio based in a former Hammond Organ Manufacturing facility in Chicago. Credit history: Alexis Rogers

Workshoppe’s standout aspect will be how it concentrates on the social part of shopping. Events run by Petsos and Afrik are hosted in clients’ households, with invites encouraging close friends to come and look through alongside one another.

“Anyone can host a get together – form of like the previous Tupperware get together,” explained Petsos.

“[We want to see] girls encouraging females to get things,” stated Afrik. “When you shop with your good friends, they know your household, and they can say, ‘Oh, this will seem good.’”

Workshoppe debuted its wares in a pre-launch occasion on June 18. Petsos’ household, total of internationally acquired solutions, served as its first storefront. “We just wanted to see what [guests] imagined,” explained Afrik. “And they liked it.”

“We prepared to just take [the products] down the next working day, but then people today were being calling and emailing and indicating [that they] wish they would have acquired more,” Petsos additional. “People have been shopping every single day due to the fact then.”

As effectively as exhibiting goods, Afrik and Petsos describe the backstory of every piece via their relationships with the artists. Their displays are imbued with passion for structure and journey. Some of the very first of their connections with artists emerged from a Senegalese sector at the preliminary conceptualization of the company.