Local Love: Swarm Shop at B:Hive

We added Swarm Shop to our established (and beloved) co-working space, B:Hive Bridgeport, this past November of 2014. After hosting a number of successful pop up markets throughout the year, we thought it was time to finally have a collection of goods that folks could access on a more regular basis.

We carry the best of the best! A little bit of this and a little bit of that. We have everything from apparel, jewelry and accessories to paper goods, candles and lamps, kitchen-wares and beauty products, kids clothing to teas, mugs, and journals. We continue to add new products and work diligently to keep the inventory fresh and interesting. People love shopping small and local. They enjoy learning the story behind a piece and knowing that it was created by real hands, real people, and made REAL close by. As buyers, we look for high quality, unique items that are created by individuals who are involved in the entire process of their products. We get to work with Connecticut's finest, coolest, most driven folks this little state has to offer. It's so much fun and very inspiring!

Whenever you take on the responsibility of housing and selling another person's handmade products, you feel the enormous weight of showcasing their items in the most appealing and genuine of settings. You want each piece to standout. We have a lot of inventory for a small space and making it all work together can be a challenge. However, because we are careful to select the right goods from each vendor, we are able to create a atmosphere that works on two levels; separate items deserving to shine on their own as well as all the items working together and supporting one another within the shared space.

We have loved seeing the positive response from the community. We have folks stop in quickly to grab a letter-pressed card for a coworker's birthday, we have groups of friends come out for our evening shopping events and make a night of it, we have those whole follow individual vendors of our shop come to see their favorite items on display. But our favorite is when we see people rushing by to grab a coffee next door or hurry to a meeting and they stop dead in their tracks when they glance at the display window. The beautiful spread of inventory is like a magnet. There are few retail stores like Swarm Shop in downtown and our presence is really grabbing the attention of those who are out and about during the day. We hope to see further growth of small businesses like this throughout the city.

We also create our own events! Why wait for others to organize something? Our vendors deserve constant shouting from the rooftops and we're happy to do so.

We're also fortunate enough to host events in the B:Hive space that bring in people that wouldn't normally come to Bridgeport. For example, non-profits will run meetings from our space, companies will rent it out for office parties, and we also participate in local workshops. Monarch Workshop will be running it's 2nd weekend-long workshop here in March. These types of activities bring in a whole new set of lovely faces that can experience the city of Bridgeport, our co-working space, and (of course) Swarm Shop.

Swarm Shop is located within B:Hive Bridgeport

285 Fairfield Ave

Bridgeport, CT 06604

203-873-2008
B:Hive Website

Swarm Shop is open Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm. We also hold many evening/weekend shopping events that are posted on our social media. These events typically include light bites and libations. A great time for all!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.