Everyone loves a list especially travelers. Lists break down the highlight reel of what to do with limited vacation time. They spark your imagination in 150 words or less. Their criteria is trusted.
So, as a business owner, finding yourself on a Top 10 list in a tourist bible such as Lonely Planet is like winning the lottery (every year, for the three or so it is in print).
It can be a fun exercise to pick up a travel guide on your own city, to see if you agree with their choices. But it can be even more fun to ask a business owner if they agree with being chosen.
I bet people come in here and theyre a little confused, laughs Brandy Fedoruk, co-owner of the Regional Assembly of Text listed in Lonely Planet under Mountain Equipment Co-op as a Top Shopping Pick in Vancouver. They must look at the book, like, what? MEC, --- ? Fedoruk looks mockingly around, blinking.
Rebecca Ann Dolen, her partner in this tourist trickery, giggles shyly on the stool next to her.
Were sitting in the Lilliputian back room of their Main Street shop, tucked away behind a wall of vintage filing cabinets that took Dolen years to collect. Every square inch of space has been converted to storage for boxes of handmade cards, buttons and cards with buttons. You can also do stylish damage to your back-to-school shopping list with their stationery supplies.
Founded in 2005 and still steadily growing (they recently opened a second store location in Victoria, and expanded into a nearby studio), the Regional Assembly of Text is an antidote to the digital age a lexicographers dream.
Basically were a card store, jokes the soft-spoken Dolen.
There are some great paper shops in Vancouver, adds Fedoruk, the more assertive of the two. But, in terms of locally designed stuff, I think our shop is a bit different because were making a lot of what were selling.
In fact, the women had just done the math, and 75 per cent of what they ring through the register has been made by them. The friends, who met in art school at Emily Carr, design their own cards, wrapping paper, journals, pencil cases, buttons, T-shirts...
Were developing the wholesale side of our business. Thats why we were just in New York at the National Stationery Show, says Fedoruk. About 5,000 booths of paper nerds just like us.
It can be hard to stand out amongst 5,000 designers, but having a name like Regional Assembly of Text cant hurt, right?
Oh geez, they look at each other and guffaw. We had a few inspirations of stores we liked the names of that were kind of official sounding. Like the Department of Safety in Anacortes, and that little gallery in Victoria called the Ministry of Casual Living, they chime in unison, sounding more like a live reading of the academic calendar for Hogwarts.
We wanted it to sound really official, but still be really silly.
Their chemistry is an obvious source of how a mere card store can survive a recession and rising area rents. They look to each other for cues, sentences are completed in surround sound, they complement each other right down to their opposing hair colours one blonde, the other brunette. They even have contrasting design styles.
Some are collaborative, some are definitely Brandys or mine, says Dolen.
Mine have a lot of text on them.
Its true. Brandys the writer.
Beckys the drawer.
But you drew those typewriters that were so beautiful! Dolen argues.
And you wrote that, says Fedoruk, pointing to a card on the wall. They stop and face me, smiling sheepishly.
The other reason they are succeeding in such a niche market is their community-mindedness, typical of many businesses on Main Street.
For example, off to one side is a restful nook that draws in the curious bibliophile. Dubbed the Lowercase Reading Room, it is home to inspiring examples of self-published books, exquisitely bound books, screen-printed books, miniature books, and zines that the girls started collecting more than 12 years ago. Donations from local and international authors make up the bulk of the library. Previously a storage closet, the Lowercase also features the former collections of the (over)view gallery and Cyclops Library, with a cozy little sitting area, all in a space measuring less than 9 by 3 feet.
Then there is what they are perhaps most famous for: the first Thursday of every month, you can follow the sound of clacking keys right to their free monthly letter writing club.
Labelled in one publication as a hipster event, its a charming way to show a friend you care. To flex your fingers without fighting screen glare. To actually use a typewriter instead of decorating with them. The next coterie meets Sept. 5 at 7pm at the store (3934 Main). Everything you need is supplied. Save up some thoughts, sit down with some friends, and text your BFF the old-fashioned way. Or maybe write a letter to Lonely Planet, just to tell them they got it right.
