A North East Valley, Dunedin, cafe has found a way to diversify during the latest lockdown. Not only is it providing its owners with another source of income, it is also supporting local artists. Business reporter Riley Kennedy pays ADJO a visit.
It took everyone by surprise.
It was just a normal Tuesday — everything was ticking along as normal, but then, at 11.59pm, businesses were closed with the uncertainty of not knowing when they would reopen again.
Two of the many Dunedin business owners with that unsettled feeling were Jonas Jessen Hansen (30) and Caitlin Holloway (29), the owners of North East Valley’s Scandinavian-inspired cafe, gallery and venue ADJO.
The couple met in Scotland about five years ago and moved back to Dunedin, Ms Holloway’s home town, in 2018.
They then set up the cafe that celebrated its second birthday two weeks before this latest lockdown.
Originally from Denmark, Mr Jessen Hansen is an artist by trade, though that is a bit more part-time now with the cafe to tend to.
His interest, though, has led to the Bank St business also being a gallery where local artists exhibit their work for three weeks at a time.
While out for a run on the first Friday of being in Alert Level 4, the pair had an idea to support the cafe and local artists while both could not make any money.
They then started what they have called a poster campaign.
Artists supply their work to the cafe in a .JPG file and it is sold through ADJO’s website in two set sizes.
Once alert levels allow, the work will be printed on to posters and sent out.
Half of the proceeds from every purchase go directly to the artist, the rest going towards the printing, distribution and helping to keep the cafe afloat.
Ms Holloway sent emails to artists straight away, and the next day there were five or six pieces ready to go.
One of the artists to jump on board was Megan Brady, of Dunedin, who has created seven pieces for the campaign inspired by photos she took in different months of this year.
The 27-year-old said lockdown was a ‘‘strange’’ time for artists.
‘‘On one hand it was really disorientating, but on the other it does give you time and artists are always desperate for time.’’
The ADJO project had been great to spend some of the early days on, she said.
The couple’s idea was inspired by a gallery in Denmark.
They had always wanted to do something similar at ADJO and they thought the poster campaign was a way to do so that ‘‘added value and helped us out’’, Ms Holloway said.
Mr Jessen Hansen said every purchase supported local artists — exhibitors at ADJO were usually emerging artists — by providing additional income to those who might be struggling during the lockdown.
‘‘Knowing that money is a bit tight right now, it is not heaps of money but it is enough to go out and buy some more art supplies to do their practice,’’ he said.
About 19 artists were expected to participate and on Thursday more than 60 prints had already been sold.
Most of the orders had come from Dunedin and there had been some from across the country.
There had also been interest from the United Kingdom and Denmark, but the couple were working through the postage process.
The idea was for the posters to be printed the day after the campaign finished, but that would depend on alert level restrictions.
If Dunedin stayed at Level 3 for a while, the art would be outsourced to an online printer, but Ms Holloway hoped they could use a Dunedin printer.
Last year’s Level 4 lockdown had come as less of a shock, and Mr Jessen Hansen believed that gave them time to prepare the cafe to close and for artists to stock up on supplies.
This time that had not been possible and the cafe lost a lot more stock because of it, he said.
He believed last year’s lockdown was easier for the business because people knew how long it was going to last.
‘‘There was a lot of uncertainty with this one, which made it harder for the state of mind,’’ he said.
The cafe reopened on Wednesday at the shift to Level 3 and had a steady stream of customers buying goods via contactless delivery, but, as for all food-related operations, the restrictions still meant business was not back to normal.
Late nights, which were ADJO’s biggest trading hours, were not possible, for example.
There was a positive side to Level 3 for the cafe — the couple were taking the time to test some menu ideas they had wanted to try out for a while.
Ms Holloway said lockdowns affected different artists in different ways.
Some artists worked towards exhibitions, which could not go ahead at the moment because of gathering restrictions, and others just did it ‘‘for the joy’’. Some artists in the campaign had switched from their usual practices.
‘‘Some of the artists we’ve reached out to don’t usually work in paint, but have joined and have managed to make some abstract pieces.
‘‘It is cool to see the experiments that have taken place from those people,’’ she said.
The campaign finishes on Sunday next week.
