Husband and wife team Peter Eiermann & Sally Struever opened Eli Phant in May of 2008 on Portland’s East End (in Maine!). We wanted to give the store a whimsical element, and so created alternate personas– Eli and Ella Phant– to give ourselves the freedom to explore the world of creativity and ingenuity that we wanted to highlight in the shop. We envisioned Eli and Ella travelling the globe collecting evidence of a handmade world– a world many people don’t even realize is there. A world where work and play intertwine and are sometimes indistinguishable, and where beauty and function are on friendly terms. This world is all around us, believe it or not, even now– you just need to look for it.

In the two years that have passed since first opening the shop, Eli and Ella have taken a bit of a back seat, and we have done more of the exploring ourselves. Visiting the studios, workshops and homes of crafters and artists, we've worked to connect our customers with the products they buy and the people that make them. We look forward to offering our customers more opportunities to interact directly with the makers in the shop, and to encourage you to become makers yourselves. In our travels we are always looking for new vendors to feature in our ever-expanding shop, so feel free to suggest people or places we should explore next!

Thank you for supporting our work, and the work of independent designers and artists around the world. And keep in touch!