The recently opened WANT Apothecary, designed to resemble a 19th century pharmacy, is proving to be a perfect prescription in South Granville’s upscale shopping district.
The concept store opened in August, but general manager Grace Baiano says they already know regulars by their first name – along with their birthdays and anniversaries, too. It’s all part of creating what she calls “a curated customer experience” for everyone who walks through the door.
“An apothecary is something you are going to find in a small neighbourhood,” Baiano explains. “You step out of your home, you go the bakery in the morning, you go to the barbershop, then you step into your favourite boutique, you get your sweater for the day.”
The unisex clothing and skincare boutique is the brainchild of Canadian twins Dexter and Byron Peart, who co-own the company along with Mark Wiltzer and Jacqueline Gelber.
The Montreal-based designers launched their fashion business in 2007 with WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie, a line of luxury leather accessories. The mostly-unisex house brand of bags is designed for modern travel, equipped to fit every type of mobile device in existence.
“The bags are essentials-based,” Baiano says. “There’s nothing more, nothing less that goes into the bag than necessary and the line itself. No details are overlooked. Essentially, I’d say it’s a really, really clean and specific marriage between style and quality.”
The leather bags are made from buttery Italian leather with an eye for engineering and fine detailing, including two-sided zippers – one side is gold, one silver, “because [the designers’] couldn’t decide between luxury and practicality,” Baiano explains.
The WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie leather goods line is expanding for spring. For now it includes totes, briefcases, pouches, wallets, gloves, belts and more.
WANT Apothecary also carries Nudie Jeans, Swedish fashion giant Acne Studios; Scandinavia’s contemporary favourite Filippa K; heritage-inspiredcasual-wear line Steven Alan; music-and-fashion-merged cosmopolitan hotshot Maison Kitsuné (my personal favourite piece in the store was a darling wool sweater with a devilishly cute knitted fox face, though at $559 it likely won’t find a spot in my closet).
WANT Apothecary is a luxury retailer – that woman Baiano talked about, who can pop in for a sweater after a visit to the baker and the coffee shop will either have the means to snag a quality European-made gem on a whim, or she’s an investment buyer who values quality over quantity.
Along with clothes and leather goods, WANT Apothecary carries perfume houses Byredo and Astier De Villatte, and skin care by Aesop, Ursa Major and Susanne Kaufmann.
“[Kaufmann] wants to give men and women the feeling of leaving the spa, but really they are just leaving their bathroom,” Baiano says. The products in the skin-care lines, all of which Baiano has rave reviews on, start at $19 and go up from there.
To learn more about the luxury boutique that offers upscale fashion remedies, visit wantapothecary.com.
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