For a number of years, James Konidis has been experimenting with a number of creative exercises at 935 Tonawanda Street, including customized upcycling, one-of-a-kind furnishings, decor, art, and DIY projects. Now, Konidis is in the process of transforming the commercial space into a custom engraving studio and personalized gift shop, called Dig Your Engrave.
“We are in the midst of renovating our space for our April 28th grand opening (12pm-7pm),” said Konidis, who will be operating the engraving studio with Jason Mueller and Brent Wedge. “Dig Your Engrave will be Buffalo’s newest engraving gift shop, specializing in personalized signs, plaques, and photos on wood and acrylic, using CO2 lasers, CNC machines, and 3d printers. We will also have our own artwork for sale that can be personalized, and are inviting local artists to sell their items in our physical and online stores. We have a retail shop, a workshop, and a design studio at our location. The studio will eventually offer 3D printing services – our long-term plan is to utilize this space to learn about these technologies that are very valuable in the job market. I want to teach local community members 3D printing, laser cutting, and graphic design.”
As part of this creative design relaunch (a re-focus), the studio has acquired a CNC machine, 60w CO2 laser, two 3D printers, a vinyl cutting machine, and a Canon Pixma Pro-100 (to print professional archival photos).
As for the outside of the building – known in the neighborhood as The Rigler Electronics building – they have replaced the storefront windows, and will be painting the outside this week. The signage will be going up the following week.
Buffalo Rising will be paying a visit to Dig Your Engrave, to check out the progress of the studio (closer to opening). We will also be exploring more of Riverside… so if you have anything that you would like to share, feel free to send a note to newell@buffalorising.com.
In the meantime, visit:
www.facebook.com/digyourengrave
Grand Opening – Facebook event