Chamber celebrates new retail space at BIG ARTS
On Oct. 27, the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce celebrated the January opening of the BIG ARTS Gift Shop with an onsite ribbon cutting.
“Due to COVID, we decided to delay the ribbon cutting until we could host the event in the gift shop with our friends from the chamber and the community,” Marketing Manager Michael Dest said. “The BIG ARTS Gift Shop is a space where local artisans can display and sell their goods. It’s a great place to find that one-of-a-kind gift for someone special or a unique design element for your home.”
BIG ARTS has always had a gift shop, but the new building allows more artists space to display and was in response to the popularity of the old gift shop, he added. The shop is located in the main lobby across from the box office. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The BIG ARTS Gift Shop carries a wide variety of unique handmade items from local artisans, including jewelry, stationery, sculpture, ceramics, and home decor items.
“We’re always getting in new things made by the wonderfully talented people in our community and the Southwest Florida region,” Dest said. “We are enjoying very brisk sales, so there are always new items on the shelves.”
Profits from gift shop sales are split between the artists and BIG ARTS’ core mission.
“What a great place to do holiday shopping,” chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai said. “BIG ARTS has been a wonderful asset to the community and chamber partner for so long. We congratulate the staff on this latest development in a long line of expansions in the past couple of years.”
“BIG ARTS truly values the close relationship we have with the Sanibel chamber,” Dest said. “They have many wonderful channels that allow us to reach a wider audience of both locals and visitors to our island.”