Tuesday, January 13, 2009
arrrr. a pirate store helps the little scurvy brats

826 Valencia, a group devoted to supporting young students writing skills has produced an awesomely unique and fun fundraising project: A Pirate Store.

Design firm Office helped the group create a line of products that are sold at the group's storefront, in San Francisco and online at the Pirate Supply Store.

A storefront for a non-profit agency? Absolutely. According to an interview in Metropolis Magazine (can't link to it, if they don't put it online), the store creates an additional fundraising channel while creating a connection with the community.

What can you buy at the Pirate Store? Really cool pirate supplies. Like Scurvy Begone, Designer Glass Eyes and Black Beard's Beard Dye. What an awesome inspiration to non-profits, small retail districts and pirates everywhere.

Labels: design, nonprofit, pirates, retail

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:16 AM   5 comments

5 Comments:

At 11:34 AM,  Brian said...

This is a MUST HAVE for anyone going to SXSW! Especially if you have a tendency to make out with random web celebrities  

At 12:25 PM,  Cory O'Brien said...

This is great! Non-profits often have a tough time raising funds outside of donations, so it's good to see an org think outside the box and come up with a rather unique way to do some fundraising while building awareness for their cause. Love the packaging too.  

At 1:44 PM,  Andy Jukes said...

This is a Dave Eggers project. He's got about half a dozen of these storefronts in different cities, including a time travel mart and a superhero supply store. They're all whimsical, funny and for a good cause.  

At 3:37 PM,  Kelli (and Brad) said...

I thought [please correct if wrong] that the stores arose because they wanted to use the space for tutoring but the area was zoned commercial only so they created the stores as spoofs and to get around the zoning. The front is store, the back is tutoring.
Very, very cool.  

At 8:16 AM,  darryl ohrt said...

Andy - yep. This one may actually be the first in the series. The store is actually six years old, and this work shows a recent revamping of the brand.

Kelli/Brad - According to an interview in Metropolis, yes. This was both to satisfy a zoning requirement, and help to create buzz for potential donors and volunteers.

Sounds like it's working. I'm definitely getting one of the pirate t-shirts.  

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