It’s been a year and a half since I moved Cotton & Flax from Los Angeles to San Diego, and I’m excited to share one of the year’s biggest developments: a brand new retail shop! This is the flagship store for Cotton & Flax, after six years of studio life. It’s been a labor of love to get the store set up, and I can’t wait to show you the details.
Abigail Grey visited the shop to take some photos last month ⏤ see the shop through her lens below!
Moving from a production studio to a retail storefront opened up some amazing opportunities. After handing off manufacturing projects to production partners, I wanted to create a design shop where I could feature my textile designs alongside my favorite contemporary home goods designers and artists. It’s such a treat to have ceramics from Toools, artisan made baskets from Kazi, and etched cutting boards from AHeirloom on the shelves next to my textiles.
I spent the summer building the cabinets and shelves, and installing fixtures, getting this tiny (120 sq. ft!) retail shop ready to open. As more design goods from my favorite brands arrived in the shop, I continued to merchandise the shop. I’d been focused on all the tiny details, but with all the beautiful pieces on the shelves, it felt a lot more real ⏤ I was ready to open the doors and meet more people from my new neighborhood.
In late September, I had an opening party to celebrate the new shop, and to invite neighbors to check out the space. It was so much fun to have people see what I’d been working on all summer! This is the first time I’ve had a long-term showroom setup for Cotton & Flax ⏤ the learning curve has been steep, but now that the doors are open, I can settle in and get back into a routine.
The Cotton & Flax shop will also function as my design studio ⏤ a space for me to create new designs, meet with clients and collaborators, and work on custom design projects. I’ll be here five days a week shipping orders from the online shop, and developing new patterns for future products. In November, I’ll set regular retail hours, to make holiday shopping easier for locals.
If you’re in San Diego, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello. You can always email me to make an appointment to take a tour of the space, or if you’re in the neighborhood, just come by and knock ⏤ if I’m there, the shop will be open!
Cotton & Flax – 3180 Adams Ave. San Diego, CA 92116
