About Us

Our Story

Would you believe the Golden Artisans Co-op started with an Optometry appointment?

Back in November 2023 I was trying to find a new place to sell my handmade products, I used to love doing markets regularly, however once I became a mom I struggled with having the time, stock, childcare (if you know you know). I had 2 young boys under the age of 3 and I just kept missing deadlines for markets, on top of having to organize care, and time to set up, take down, make the products. I was drowning to say the least.

I had reached out to a few local shops to sell my products on consignment, but time and time again ran into the issue that they were all full! I was put on waitlist after waitlist year after year.

That finally lead me to believe I couldn't be the only Artisan struggling with these same issues. After being turned down again I was headed to the new OSO Buildings in Golden for my Optometry appointment on November 17th 2023, and I saw a unit for Lease, and then the idea of the GAC was born. I started with a subscription list to keep other local artisans in the loop so that when everything went through I would already have a diverse vendor list ready to go. Unfortunately to no fault of their own OSO didn't work out for me, however Ned was an amazing support and gave me some great insight. Devastated I was driving home thinking this wasn't going to become a reality. While sitting at the lights I looked to my left and there was 828 Unit D on 10th Ave with a big FOR LEASE sign. Immediately I called my friends over at Canyon Creek Cannabis to get the landlords number, Ironically it happened to be the father of someone I went to school with. We had set up a meeting for the next day and everything was falling into place, that's when Nicole of the Kootenay Artisan Co-op in Invermere BC reached out. Teamed with Christina they both stepped up to give me any and all resources needed when it came to starting up the GAC, they remained as partners until September 2024, and though they aren't active members in the store currently we could not and would not have done any of this without them, they continue to be huge supports and a major catalyst for this store we will always be eternally grateful for their expertise. If you love us be sure to check out Kootenay Artisan Co-op!

By December 8th 2023 we opened the doors and never looked back. We started with only 22 Artisans and by March of 2024 we were up to 56 Artisans!

The GAC operates as a not-for-profit this is how we keep vendor fees low while still leaving room for improvements, everything is run, operated, and maintained by our lovely volunteers. We did our first big reno job in September of 2024 with all our shelving graciously donated by a local blacksmith Patrick Gravelle. We are so fortunate to have the support that we do and I will forever be grateful to everyone who saw the potential and jumped in with both feet to make this a possibility.

Thank you for being here, we hope to see you soon!