Hello! We hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and (relatively) happy during this weird, stressful time.
Our business continues to be (more or less) closed due to the Governor's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order. This has been an incredibly challenging time for us–we've seen 90% of our income disappear, but our fixed costs like rent and utilities continue on. We're doing our best to support our staff by keeping them on payroll as much as possible, but our business, and their jobs, were built around teaching you and your friends. Needless to say, this has been really hard for all of us–staff, owners, and the people who enjoy our studio.
Our core mission is to be a place where all kinds of folks come together to teach and learn and build community in a warm, friendly atmosphere. We're holding true to that mission. All of us in the Saltstone Ceramics family miss you, and we're looking forward to gathering again one day.
That said, we don't know when we'll be able to open the studio to students again. We're optimistic for a June 1st date, but we just can't know. When we do re-open, we don't know what extra safeguards might need to be in place, but we're planning for extra spacing between wheels and strict limits on the number of people in the studio. We take the health and welfare of our staff and students very seriously, and we won't bring anyone back into our studio until we're confident that there is minimal risk to everyone.
Because of this uncertainty, we think the right thing to do for our community is to offer gift card refunds to students who are registered for a postponed class or workshop. If you want to hold onto your registration, great! We'll let you know when we have new dates. But if the uncertainty around rescheduling is making things difficult, we encourage you to ask for a refund to a gift card.
Gift cards can be used to buy any of the ceramics and other goods we sell in our gallery, as well as future classes, workshops, or private lessons. Gift cards never expire and there are no maintenance fees attached. Our retail pickup window is currently open three days per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoons), and we'll keep expanding our hours as permitted.
Because of the drastic impact the coronavirus lockdown has had on our cash flow, we are unable to offer cash refunds for postponed classes.
If you're registered for a postponed class or workshop and would like to request a refund to a gift card, please fill out this form (https://forms.gle/K4VDS1CqTVXNADEV9). You'll receive an email with your gift card number within a week (although we'll try to get them out as fast as we can for Mother's Day shopping!). For security reasons, gift card refunds need to go back to the person who made the original purchase.
If you have unfinished work from our Winter session, or finished work from one of our Clay Curious sessions or private lessons, don't worry–your pottery is safe and sound and we'll get you into the shop as soon as we're able.
Thank you for your continued support and trust in us. If you have any questions, just reply to this email. We've been running this business through ups and downs and two studio spaces for nearly six years now, and it has always been a labor of love. This is about nurturing a community that values personal expression, skill, and direct connection. We're not losing sight of that goal and we hope to see you soon, when we can be together again.
Wishing you well,
Sarah, Steve, and the rest of the Saltstone family.