The Gifts of Manchester

Guest post by our friend across the pennines, and new dad Josef Minta

Look, I know it’s tempting, and I’ve been there myself…but seriously…step away from the collection of bubble baths in a small faux-wicker duck! And the comical/musical/abysmal tie/socks/jumpers. Christmas is just around the corner, and as depressingly early as usual, the cavalcade of tat, or the tatterama as I like to call it, has begun. As Christmas approaches you may find yourself, behind the wheel or a large automobile, carrying this years equivalent of Billy the Singing Bass (no self respecting Sopranos fan could resist), and crying loudly to yourself “My god, what have I done”. But…there is another way. You can avoid buying useless, unwelcome and unwanted crap this Christmas and instead wow your friends and loved ones with something genuinely unique and special, all with this one tiny piece of advice…shop indie this year. I don’t mean grow your hear and flounce, instead invest your squirrelled  away sheckles from the wide range of highly talented, unique and affordable independent retailers out there.

The real beauty of finding good independents is that you will find yourself going back year after year and forgetting the high street trudge completely. Another added bonus is that  you can usually be rewarded with an actually relationship ( I know!) with the retailer as you see their work grow and change over the years. My favourite Manchester locations for great ranges of independent retails are Manchester Craft and Design Centre and Afflecks Palace. MCDC  is nestled in the very heart of Coolsville, the Northern Quarter, yet somehow manages to remain hidden i.e. even more cool! . It a veritable paradise of handmade, high quality, finely crafted amazingness. Fine art, jewellery, clothing, pottery…it just keeps on giving. The quality is always high and the prices very reasonable. Just remember, you are buying unique, usually one-offs here and the price is reflected accordingly.

My favourite retailer by far is baby clothes designer, screen printer, card designer and all round good egg and pal Miss Nell Smith . Nell embodies the kind of care and attention to detail you get from independents: organic cotton, individual designs, always fresh and catering to an every increasing client base of commissions. Nell is just one of the many retailers also making great use of online selling spaces for those out of the M postcode or those who prefer to shop from home.

Afflecks afflecks.com has always had a great selection of independent retailers and continues to do so. It’s somewhere you just have to go, not really with anything particular in mind but where you will usually walk out with something amazing. The Afflekcs effect also spreads out to the streets near by with a great range of small retailers selling all sorts from records to second hand furniture and moooooorre!

There is also the increased prevalence of high quality indies online too; if you can’t find it (knitted unicorn hat, hand crafted chairman Mao) it means no one is making it and you have found the perfect niche to exploit. Folksy and Etsy are the biggies for handmade/artisan stuff with the other main player,   Not on the high street. Fair warning, there is a fair bit of tat out there,  and you can sometimes find yourself sucked into an ever increasing bizarrathon of knitted hell (try Etsy search “wool elvis”) and forget why you were there in the first place, but you can find and wide range cracking stuff with a bit of trawling or some choice filtering.  I usually go on recommends from twitter, a good place to start being the #shopindie hashtag this year.  Friends of friends post links and follows that often lead to sales. A  good example of this working well; I was bought a cracking pair of “Thrupenny bit” cuff links from someone I had spotted on twitter. Before spotting this in my feed I didn’t even know I needed these cuff links which I so clearly did.  This year follow the #shopindie hashtag as well as  @notonthehighstreet for the latest and best in indie goodness.

Searching and finding great indies online and IRL, is part of the fun and the prefect antithesis to the boil-in-the-bag, high street Christmas. Get out there and put your festive pound in the pocket of a artist  this Christmas, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

Josef Minta is an artist, writer and musician from Bury.
www.minta.posterous.com