Small businesses once defined a city and a neighbourhood. Customers sought craftsmanship and a personal shopping experience. That philosophy waned with the onslaught of big box stores, but a new trend in retail hopes to bring some of that entrepreneurial spirit back. It’s a curated craft shop. Sandy Muldrew embodies this trend in his shop The Prints & The Paper. It’s a graphic art gallery, gift store and framing shop. “Shopkeepers can be people who curate something they love and promote what they love, or it can be a craftsman who makes leather shoes or flower arrangements,” says Sandy. “In some cases, you’re both and that’s what I am. I curate graphic art but I’m also a framer.”
Sandy opened The Prints & The Paper on 124 Street after a year of scouting locations for an area that embraced small business owners. “People around this neighbourhood are proud of this street and proud of the shops,” says Sandy. “They want unique shops in here.”
