Tal Thompson (top) opened the Art Factory & Party Place in 2012 after her online face paint and makeup products business needed bricks and mortar space. In 2018, she expanded to 26,000 square feet, allowing space for art-minded kids parties, arts classes and various gatherings, with coffee and snacks included. ASH DANIEL
Art Factory & Party Place / Art and Coffee didn’t open as a place to get a cup of coffee, but it eventually made sense to serve some, so Tal Thompson did it.
By her own admission a disinterested student, the Israeli immigrant was kicked out of a standard school – then thrived at one where she could pursue art. After compulsory service in the Israeli military, Thompson landed a job working with American servicemen and women at the USO in Haifa. There, she fell in love with an American biomedical engineer, and after 18 months of long-distance dating, moved to Georgia, married him, picked up a degree in design from The Art Institute of Atlanta and had two children. Thompson used her talent in graphic design in corporate positions to freelance catalog work for clients like Bloomingdale’s. To make money on the side, she imported temporary tattoos from Israel and sold body art supplies to friends and neighbors from her kitchen table.
When the economy crashed in 2008, the work in graphic design dried up and the Thompson family moved to Richmond, where her husband Cliff had landed a job. She found work as creative director for political strategists at a direct mail marketing firm but after three years, she’d had enough. In 2012 she was ready to market her own products and savvy enough to design a website to sell them.
“I started working full time growing that body art business … face paint and other makeup products used mainly by entertainers,” she says. Before long, the online operation was too big to run out of their home. Thompson rented a small space at the Market Square Shopping Center. It was close to their home in Brandermill and a foray into brick and mortar sales.
Thompson was pleasantly surprised by the response. “What happens when you open a door to the community? The community comes! And not only do they come, they tell you what you should do…” The biggest request was for Thompson to entertain kids with face paint and art at parties. That’s how the Art Factory began. “A party space allows you to host those events … I don’t have to run. They come to me. My things are here, right? Much easier.”
ASH DANIEL
The community embraced the newcomers. Soon, Thompson offered art classes and art workshops, too. In 2018, Tal decided to expand from 2,600 to 12,000 square feet, accommodating bigger party rooms and studios, and a huge playground inside the entrance, where they’d also sell coffee. Thompson thought coffee would be a good way to attract moms with preschool children. Renovations took eight months. The Art Factory reopened in December 2019 – just ahead of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
By the time Thompson was forced to close in the spring of 2020, online sales had dried up, too. Who needed makeup and body paint when shows around the world were suspended? Thompson had paid for the shop’s renovations out of pocket so the operation was debt free, but several dozen employees were on the payroll and rent was still due.
She was undaunted. “In moments of crisis, there’s also the birth of opportunity,” Thompson says. Starting with samples from a friend, Thompson turned her staff into a balloon delivery service, servicing birthday parties for homebound boys and girls. She also repurposed her supply of body decorations. “Parents were still stuck at home with their kids, so we started putting together art kits. Our face painting store had all the brushes with our brand on it. So it was like our factory brand to-do kit with all the step by step instructions and supplies.” PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans helped cover the payroll.
The business at Market Square Shopping Center in Midlothian operates daily 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with later hours on weekends. ASH DANIEL
Actually, opening the shop was a bigger challenge. Art studios weren’t classified as an “essential” business by the government. Neither was the playground Thompson had inside the entrance. But restaurants were. Moving the playground to a separate room allowed her to move Art Factory & Party Place (now with Art and Coffee) into the food service category. “So our coffee shop is our COVID baby,” she explains. And it’s thriving.
Thompson attacked the coffee business with the same vigor she sells tattoos, makeup, art classes and balloons. She partnered with Guide coffee roasters for her supplies (and essential know-how), and other locals for bread and cake pops. “It started making money in the first month,” she says. “We added a rib to this crazy operation so we catch our own traffic. If we take 45 kids for camp, that’s 45 families coming in and out. And there is still a totally cool community that just comes for coffee and for sitting with their laptop and doing work.” There are also goods for sale at the counter, everything from jewelry to soap, and of course, art. The shop is open seven days a week, Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thompson credits her success to keeping a close eye on her customers. “My dad owned a shoe store, so I grew up learning to sell when I was a kid. But what I learned here in the U.S. is more of the art of the sale…to sit and observe our customers and see what they need and try to answer those needs. Everything we add has great intention. It either has to make sense as part of our process or it has to make sense as it serves the community.”
Art Factory & Party Place / Art and Coffee is located at 4810 Market Square Lane. Phone: 804-716-5219. ¦
