After 20 years in journalism, Beth Lawton says she’s traded the stress of deadlines for the stress of owning a business in Old Town.
In addition to being a mom with two kids, Lawton has spent the last five years selling handmade items from dozens of local artists at her shop, Made In ALX. At the end of 2024, she had to hang up her journalism hat as the publisher of Alexandria Living Magazine and at least temporarily left behind a long career in journalism.
Lawton told ALXnow her life is more manageable now, but her days can still be unpredictable. Her shop sells work from more than 50 Alexandria-based makers, including paintings, stationery, candles, jewelry, toys, clothing, spices and more.
“There are some things you just can’t control, like the weather,” Lawton said. “If it’s raining on Saturday it’ll be dead, and there’s little you can do about it.”
Lawton founded Made In ALX with Lore Burek in October 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Artists weren’t able to sell their work at local pop-ups or farmer’s markets, and the pair launched the company online with 10 makers.
A year later, she and Burek opened their own pop-up for 25 local makers at a 600-square-foot shop on Wales Alley, across from Virtue Feed and Grain. The pop-up, open from November to December, did enough business to inspire Lawton to look for a permanent space, which she found at 533 Montgomery Street in Old Town North. The store opened in June 2022 and was open until fall 2024, when Made In ALX moved to its current home at Tavern Square (415 King Street).
Lawton has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and after graduating was the founding online editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s publication MKE. She was also a senior regional editor for Patch in Northern Virginia and co-founded Alexandria Living Magazine in 2017. In 2024 she left the magazine to focus on Made In ALX full time.
ALXnow: After more than 20 years in journalism, how’s it feel to not live on deadline?
Lawton: Life is still stressful, but it’s a very different kind of stress now. I’m still learning every day, which is why I chose journalism in the first place, and I get to interact with a lot of interesting people. Sometimes I get to set my own hours, and I have a lot more balance in my life now running this. So, there is much less deadline stress, but in other ways there are more, different things to juggle. Now instead of writing and design and advertising, I’m dealing with inventory and pop-ups and events and classes and merchandising and marketing and finances.
ALXnow: Are your journalism skills helping?
Lawton: The organizational skills I’ve gained over the last 20 years have helped. My days are more varied and there’s more to juggle, but I’m not waking up at 6 a.m. to put together a newsletter. That’s kind of nice.
ALXnow: How many artists do you work with now?
Lawton: We’re at 50-plus artists, and we’re at about the size we want to be right now. We’re happy with where we are, but there are other opportunities for artists to contribute if they’re interested. We do a maker’s market at Port City Brewing Company three times a year, and they can participate in that, for example. In addition, we have art classes and workshops almost every weekend and we’re always interested in talking to teachers.
ALXnow: In case you missed it, City Hall is under construction across the street.
Lawton: I hadn’t noticed (laughs). Customers ask us about it a lot.
ALXnow: Well, the Old Town Farmers’ Market also moved into Tavern Square. How’s that been on the weekends?
Lawton: It’s been great for visibility and awareness. We open at 8 a.m. on Saturdays to catch the early birds.
ALXnow: With City Hall under construction, tour buses are now wrapping around your block. Is that impacting business?
Lawton: It would be nice if the tour buses were not on the main drag of King Street, because that does affect customer parking. But we welcome customers from the tour bus, and for locals we remind them there is a parking garage under Tavern Square, and it’s free to park on Saturday until 12:30 p.m., and it’s rarely completely full.
ALXnow: What’s it like going from managing journalists to managing makers?
Lawton: It’s so much harder in some ways, because now I’m dealing with 50 different personalities. It’s an adventure. We have some artists who are super business-minded, and are very good at marketing themselves, putting themselves out there and trying new things. Then we have some artists who are very introverted and really just want to focus on their art. Both types produce really great things.
ALXnow: What’s the future look like for Made In ALX?
Lawton: We would like to do more pop-up events. We’d also like to do a course on the business of art for teenage makers. We’re kicking off summer camp this year for the first time, and there’s definitely more growth to be had there.
ALXnow: Do you miss writing and ever want to go back to it?
Lawton: Absolutely, I would love to at some point. It wouldn’t be a full-time thing, but I could be like a part-time contributor in some way, shape or fashion. Right now I’m enjoying my kids and spending time with them as much as I can. We also just got a new puppy, Sandy, who I’m hoping will become a great shop dog.
