Alla Ionescu ‘s Happy Hands pottery center at Wilton Center was full of children on a cold Friday last month. The children, ranging in ages from four to 11, were making bowls with floral designs and spring colors. They eagerly worked with their hands and imagination, without the need for any digital component.
Ionescu credited her daughter for the idea behind the pottery centers.
“I ‘ve been in retail for about 11 years after I left corporate America when I had my children, ” Ionescu said. “I wanted to spend more time with my family and I always loved art, but the ultimate artist in the family is my daughter. She was basically saying, ‘Mom why don ‘t we do something with art, we love pottery. Let ‘s paint pottery. ‘ ”
Ionescu looked into the possibility of opening a store and tapped into her years of experience as a banker for JPMorgan Chase as she conducted her research. In the end she wound up attending a “Pottery Bootcamp ” in Fort Worth, Texas, before launching the business in Wilton Center in 2015. Since then, she has expanded her operations to include a second Happy Hands location in Fairfield.
Adapting to Covid proved challenging for a business that was largely centered on putting people in direct contact with physical media, particularly at the start of the pandemic when how the disease spread was less clear. But Ionescu adapted to those conditions.
“The core of the business is clearly coming into the studio and painting, ” Ionescu said. “However, we were able to evolve. ‘Pottery to Go ‘ was born from Covid. ”
Ionescu and her staff shifted to creating a no-contact pottery system where they would leave bags with raw materials and detailed instructions for customers to pick up. At home the customers could paint and sculpt, before returning their art to the store where Ionescu ‘s team would thoroughly clean the art and fire it in their kilns. Customers would be notified when their art was ready and pick up something, which simply couldn ‘t be ordered online — their own art.
“It ‘s turned into a completely different aspect of the business. Managing everything virtually, packaging everything, even devising birthday parties to go. We did not do that before Covid, ” she said. “Crazy as it sounds it ‘s become this new aspect of the business. ”
While Ionescu has put an emphasis on a continued adherence to Covid safety standards she is glad to have people return to the shop. She has also hosted corporate events, the Girl Scouts and more than a few curious adults who want to follow their creative impulses.
She is also looking forward to Easter break when a new round of themed creations will be an offer for young artists to get their hands on. Weather permitting, she hopes to host the students at outdoor seats.
