Welcome to 2021 with Unicorn Clothing

What to Say About the State of a Renaissance Business Today?

I started Unicorn Clothing based on the popularity of an item I had designed for myself  decades ago. Friends began suggesting I could sell such an item in a handcrafted market setting which was readily available in craft fairs locally and otherwise. After all, it was the often outrageous 1970s where novel ideas and new directions were welcomed. So, why not explore this unusual and fanciful world known as the Renaissance Festival with all it’s color, excitement and thematic pageantry? In the many years since, Unicorn Clothing has become a successful merchant at five Renaissance Festivals and has grown into a well regarded boutique business.

Fast forward to 2020 and that world–like so many we had come to know and love—came to a screeching halt with the pandemic lockdowns. Renaissance Festivals are the epitome of large gatherings and as such will be among the last events to reopen. Festival after festival was cancelled in 2020 and this trend continues to plague the spring 2021 calendar as well. Rather than the intermittent closures suffered by many businesses, the in-person retail experience for Renaissance Festival merchants has been consistently unavailable.

Like many small business owners, I have had to become even more creative in order to survive. But creative, after all, is what we do and what we have always done. I have chosen to continue the production aspect of Unicorn Clothing so I could save a few jobs. This has been costly and difficult as you might well imagine. Fortunately I have two important positives in a world that has become mostly negative— my loyal customers and festival fans, and my very creative and devoted marketing expert, Erica.

Reaching people, fans, customers, and even just the curious via online venues is more important than ever since it can provide much needed sales and revenue while keeping us all safer than gathering in person. Please help small businesses who are struggling to stay solvent and relevant in these strange times by supporting  their online presence, ordering goods from them and telling your friends about such opportunities.

I thank you in advance for any support you can offer as we explore other new and exciting venues.

– Teri Evans, Owner and Founder of Unicorn Clothing

What can you do?

Many of our loyal patrons have wondered how they can best help the artisans they have come to know and love. Shopping our online stores is certainly important, but now more than ever we need you to be our cheerleaders!

Like and follow your favorite artists on social media. Comment on their posts, and remain engaged with their pages. We love hearing from you! It helps keep up our spirits and enthusiasm while we take this crash course in online selling.  And it helps us stay relevant in the algorithms that sites like Facebook and Instagram use to decide who gets shown in the Newsfeeds.  

Browse our websites often. We are making frequent updates the more we learn.  Share links to your favorite items on your own pages so your network of friends can see us where they might otherwise not.  Sharing links and posts, commenting, and helping us promote our online presence is the new window shopping.  It is so so important, and really helps us feel connected to our community while we wait patiently for the festivals to open up again.  

We can’t do this without you.  Thanks so much for hanging in there with us. 

– Erica Hession, Director of Marketing, Merchandising, and Design for Unicorn Clothing