That was one hell of a Saturday.
Over the last few days that have passed since our pop-up event on Saturday, I have had a few friends ask for my thoughts or feelings on the whole thing. My honest answer has been that words cannot really manage to explain the way our first ever pop-up shop on Saturday went. Let alone describe the thoughts, emotions and vibe that I have been left digesting since.
Considering this is a blog and blogs are supposed to consist of words, bear with me, I’m going to do the best I can to get these thoughts across.
The fact that both Dylan and I left the pop-up with absolutely zero photos or videos on our memory cards is a great indicator of just how busy things were. The very good news is that even though Dylan and I were so preoccupied that we never had the chance to move our camera’s power switches to the on position, our good friend Josiah came out with his camera and surprised me with a folder of nearly five hundred photos that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Our dear friend Drew, the miniature (thirteen-inch) wheel hero, came out with his AE86, that long-time Checkpoint readers will be familiar with, and blessed us with a folder of photos as well.
On that note, if you are reading this please go follow Josiah and Drew on Instagram, you won’t be disappointed:
https://www.instagram.com/yamfriess/
https://www.instagram.com/drew.mccaus/
My anxiety was at an all-time high on Saturday morning when I woke up and after days of planning and setting up for the event we were met with a bunch of clouds in the sky and rain in the forecast. We spent the day finalizing everything and getting the shop ready for customers with a scary question lingering in the backs of our minds;
“will anybody really come if it’s pouring rain?”
That anxiety proved to be fruitless considering that long before we opened the doors to the shop at 6:00 pm a crowd of people had already started to form as there were many people wanting to be the first in the shop to get the first crack at the jacket of their choice. It blew my mind seeing a group of people this eager to get behind what we were doing, this was certainly the first of many more inspirations to come from that evening.
The music started playing, the BBQ fired up and just as the clock struck 6:00 pm we opened the doors and for the next few hours, I was taken aback by the love, positivity, respect and excitement I had the pleasure to witness and was personally shown by many of our patrons (both friends and strangers alike).
Seeing all of the excellent cars, petting cool dogs, watching cameras flash and listening to laughter and chatter throughout the parking lot left my heart full of excitement and energy. The fact that friends of ours came from places like Edmonton, Vancouver Island and Kelowna humbled me immediately. We are so grateful for the support that our community (both near and far) has shown us, and we have yet again been reminded why we love Checkpoint so much.
Being able to throw our event using the warehouse space at Printing Yes!’s facility was a perfect fit for us. In their typical fashion of being complete and absolute legends, both Michael and Sam made this event possible and even managed to put their printing talents to work and printed more shirts for us when we sold out of the event shirts within the first forty-five minutes of the evening.
We certainly could not have pulled this event off without the amazing help of our many good friends as well as the incredible support we received from our local community this summer. Checkpoint exists because of friendships, excitement, passion, knowledge and a willingness to connect with others and we feel that this is a trait that many of our readers, customers and supporters have connected with strongly.
Thank you for braving the rain, supporting low car style, and having a love for good goods. We can’t wait to see you at our next pop-up shop, which may be closer than you think.
Click here for our recently updated collection of rare Japanese good goods for sale as well as our Checkpoint branded merchandise: https://checkpointjapan.bigcartel.com/
See you soon.
Checkpoint Japan 
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