FLINT TWP, MI — A Puerto Rican artist from the Flint area had the chance to sell her handmade goods to shoppers at a Michaels craft store.
On Saturday, May 18, the Michaels store at 3268 S. Linden Road in Flint Township hosted an in-store pilot event featuring goods from local sellers available on MakerPlace by Michaels, the craft store chain’s new online marketplace for handmade goods, classes and how-tos.
The event allowed Michaels customers to discover local handmade artists like Linette Ramos de Soto and shop for some of the high-quality goods available on their MakerPlace storefronts directly in-store.
Ramos de Soto said she caught the crafting bug in 2008, after realizing a traditional job wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life.
“I sat down with a book that I found that said ‘learn to crochet in just one day,’ and I was like, ‘whatever, that’s not real,’” Ramos de Soto said. “I sat down, bought some yarn, and literally whipped out a sweater by the time the night was over.”
She wanted to take a chance on doing something creative that would also allow her to spend more time with her daughter.
Since then, Ramos de Soto has found success selling her crafts on MakerPlace by Michaels — an online marketplace dedicated to supporting and helping handmade artists grow their businesses.
Ramos de Soto, who ran a successful brick-and-mortar shop in Grand Blanc, now sell her goods through her own online business, Breads n Threads, MakerPlace by Michaels, and once a week at Grand Blanc’s farmers market.
For Ramos de Soto, it’s not about the money; it’s about doing what she loves.
“Literally, any display that I create, it represents me, it looks like me, it feels like me. It’s wild and loud and big. It’s just me,” Ramos de Soto said.
“Michaels is proud to deepen our support for handmade sellers on the MakerPlace by Michaels platform by giving them the opportunity to sell their items in-store,” Michaels officials said in a statement.
“This pilot program aims to drive exposure and sales for their independent handmade businesses, while giving Michaels customers the benefit of discovering and shopping for unique, high-quality handmade goods from artists within their community.
The statement continued, “We are grateful for Linette’s participation in this program and thank the Flint community for supporting her small business.”
