Where is it?
Incognito, 5 Stevenson Square, Manchester, M1 1D
incognito-uk.co.uk and impossibleworkshop.tumblr.com
History:
You know all those kitsch and creative gift ideas found in many a high street shop and back street independent? Chances are they're probably sourcing their stock from Incognito.
Despite having several retail incarnations over the years, including a shop still open in Slovenia, according to shop manager Joe Daly “Our main thing is distribution rather than retail. We bring a lot of these products into this country such as Polaroid film.”
The retail side of the business actually began in Didsbury 12 years ago followed by a shop in Altrincham and most recently Manchester city centre. However, when a new shop opens the old one closes. Incognito may be jam-packed with a thousand and one fun and funky gift ideas but as far as the number of shops goes, it’s quality over quantity.
Aside from Slovenia that is, which is an exception to the rule and “somewhere we just ended up, in a nice location by the river” according to Joe. In Manchester however, the city centre shop is the final destination for Incognito following two years of success in this busy location.
“People are starting to know we’re here and they remember us. Polaroid is a big part of it. We have it all set up downstairs. That’s the Polaroid space. We do exhibitions down here too” said Joe.
What does it sell?
Polaroid film is without a doubt Incognito's bread and butter. They’re what’s called an ‘Impossible Partner store’, probably because Polaroid film products are virtually ‘impossible’ to find en masse elsewhere in this country. So much so the store has become the headquarters of Impossible Project in the UK – making integral film for the SX70, 600 and 1200 series cameras available, alongside a wide range of reconditioned Polaroid cameras and many other toy cameras, gifts and cards.
In short, Impossible Project and Incognito are rescuing the instant photography art form and carrying the much-loved format into the 21st century.
As well as selling all things Polaroid, it also serves as a hub for Polaroid geeks - hosting workshops, artist talks, exhibitions and other events in the basement gallery space. And let’s not forget the rest of this whacky shop...
Why go there?
Tongue ScraperThe rest of the shop is of course for all manner of knick-knacks and browsing through it all will send you dippy.
Horses head, height enhancing shoe lifts, collapsable kettle, husband chopping board? You've come to the right place.
Sharing some of his own weird and wonderful favourites, Joe directed us to the bizarre Kym Jeung tongue scraper. He also pointed out the Rabito bling phone ears - a popular choice for the iPhone generation (including Kate Moss) looking to snaz up their iPhones by turning them into a bunnies, oddly.
You can also pick up cheap greetings cards at Incognito, unlike pretty much every other shop in the city.
As Joe said: “The most you can spend on a card here is £2.50. They’re not budget cards, they’re just reasonable and it’s also down to the fact we create a lot of the stuff in here ourselves. We produce cards by local artist Ben Lowe in here.”
Same goes for the wrapping paper, which Joe tells us is “designed in Portugal at our sister shop and made in Lymn.
Future:
There are already big plans in place for 2013 as far as instant images and Polaroid cameras are concerned. Impossible Partner Store will be running monthly beginners workshops where you can learn the most effective ways to make instant images. Instructor Thomas Wright will explain how to frame a scene and experiment with temperature and shielding techniques. Sessions are £35 (including a pack of film) and will take place on Saturday 12 May (3pm – 5pm), Tuesday 22 May (6pm – 8pm) and Saturday 2 June (3pm – 5pm). Attendees can either bring their own camera or borrow one from the shop and bookings can be made here.
Verdict:
This is the shop for anyone looking for anything, as crazy as that sounds. A God-send for secret Santas and struggling shoppers everywhere, simply walk in, close your eyes and reach out. You can't go wrong.
It’s a life-size lucky dip.
Follow Lynda on Twitter @lyndamoyo
