In December we unveiled Etsy’s first-ever official retail space, the Etsy Holiday Shop, a pop-up shopping experience in New York City. What an incredible adventure! To everyone who participated – shop owners, sales associates, designers, performers, and guests – thank you for making the Etsy Holiday Shop a resounding success.

We couldn’t be happier about the warm response from shoppers:

http://vimeo.com/57557552

(Music by Kings)

One of our goals this holiday season was to reach out to people who were aware of the Etsy brand but had yet to become an Etsy customer. We’re happy to say that 50% of the buyers at the Holiday Shop had never purchased from an Etsy seller before. That’s incredible, and reinforces the fact that we can present, position, and promote the Etsy community in unique ways and bring more enthusiastic and supportive shoppers into the fold.

During the ten days, we hosted over 20,000 guests in the SoHo neighborhood, one of the highest profile shopping districts in the world.

Of course, the Etsy experience includes so much more than shopping. The sights, smells, sounds, and warm fuzzy feelings of the shop were created in collaboration with WORKSHOP, a like-minded design studio comprised of friends-of-Etsy and located just down the street from our Brooklyn headquarters. The end results were unparalleled. As musician/comedian Reggie Watts declared when he took the stage, “This is the future of stores — temporary manifestations of people who care, so get used to it!”.

The shop was filled with creativity. Each day a new artist created a piece in the warmly-lit storefront for everyone on the street to see. As the pieces were completed, they were hung inside the shop, building out a gallery of original works for all to enjoy. Once inside, shoppers could interact with featured Etsy sellers making and selling their products.

Nine guest curators, including Martha Stewart, Tavi Gevinson, and Swissmiss, selected items that lined a wall as shoppers entered, giving surprising and distinctive perspectives on what Etsy has to offer.

The shop hosted an activity-packed calendar of events. Depending on the time of day or night, a shopper might wander into a coffee tasting, a lecture, a workshop, or one of dozens of very special performances.

You can view more smile-inducing photos on Flickr and check out this walk-through video created by Creativebug:

The holidays may be behind us, but there’s still much Etsy magic to be had. Spread the love this Valentine’s Day by giving your honeys the gifts that mean so much more.