HOLLANDTOWN — Customers will soon be able to enjoy the arts lifestyle at a new location as the company has announced it will move into The Bluestocking Bookshop.
Owner Maranda Shear said plans to move to 501 Butternut Drive will begin Sept. 1, and the business will reopen and begin making candles Sept. 6. Art as a Lifestyle previously shared space with Not So Shabby Marketplace.
“We’ve already moved some things to the bookstore, including our art supplies and other small things that are not candle-related,” Hill said. “Some of that stuff has already been moved, but a lot of it will slowly move out over the next few weeks.”
Art as a Lifestyle first opened in the fall of 2018 and is located in the heart of Holland Town. It is home to Candle-ology, where customers can create their own soaps, lotions and candle scents.
Hill said the store has moved several times and hopes the new location will provide more flexibility and convenience for Hill and her customers. Her plan is to train bookstore employees to make candles so that the store can operate normally when she is not there.
“Personally, I’m not able to be at Shabby as much as I’d like to be,” Shear said. “It’s like leaving the candle bar behind, like an absent parent. If I’m not available, the candle bar just sits there.”
More:Art as a Lifestyle Brings Candleology and Local Artwork to Holland Town Center
Hill said she saw great potential in the business with both returning customers and people trying it for the first time. After lunch with the owner of The Bluestocking Bookshop, it was clear the move made sense for both parties.
“It would be great to be able to operate in a place that’s fully staffed and open a few days a week,” Hill said. “Just having another group of people that can do the work would be huge. It’s a big change and a big move, but it would be great.”
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Going forward, Shear and the bookstore’s owners are working on plans and will continue to operate primarily by appointment. Updates will be released in the coming weeks.
“It’s a dream come true,” Hill said. “I think about what we’re going to do next, and having the support of people like (R. Aimee Chipman, owner of The Bluestocking Bookshop) and her community means a lot to us.”
For more information, visit Art as a Lifestyle on Facebook or artasalifestyle.com.
— Contact reporter Austin Metzametz@hollandsentinel.com.