story: Adam and the Electric Bike Shop

Adam works at the The Grin Cyclery, at Main and 30th. This bike shop is unique as they will turn your bike into an electric bike.

Above: One of the battery testing stations at the shop

Adam takes me (Lisa W) through the process, and I won't lie I don't get it... but it sure is amazing and I am thankful he took the time to show me around and explain everything. Everyone working there seemed to be having a lovely day and didn't mind me poking around with my camera. His boss used an electric bike to travel across Canada using only 10 dollars of electricity! They also sell unicycles here, and every Wednesday they bring unicycles down in front of Science World and let people try them out.

He has been working at this company since last March. It was the first job he took since arriving in Vancouver from the UK. During his job search Adam applied to over 150 places! He enjoys working at the bike shop, and is thankful it is in the Riley Park neighbourhood.

Above: One of the workshops!

"This area has got a lot of independent stores, a vibrancy that other places don't have. I find other neighbourhoods can seem a little clinical. Main St has a good mixture of old and new. Also, the food in this stretch is one of the best parts of the job! It would be cheaper for us to be along Marine Dr. but it is worth it to be in this location, here you can go for lunch or drinks after work. I can get my good coffee too!"

story: Tailored Memories

Here is a video about the history of the building Re Entry Espresso now resides in!

story: Bead Freaks

Kayla runs a store on Main St. called Bead Freaks. She met with Lisa W one afternoon to tell her how her store began.


"I opened six years ago this September. I've always been at this location (4412 Main St), although I thought at first that I'd wanted to be on Commercial Dr. I almost moved in there but there was already another bead store there and I didn't want to take away from her business, although it has since gone out of business. This store has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, it's a complete labour of love. My mom imported things as her job while I was growing up. She would send me little packages, and I remember being so fascinated by them.


I know a lot about metaphysics and it's not something I push on people but if people ask I will talk to them about it. If you need something I find you are drawn to it anyway and don't usually have to ask for it. I always say, "Just look around." By this I mean, if people need grounding in their lives they are usually drawn to a stone that helps with that. Kyanite is good for taking negative energy away and providing focus. Two of my girlfriends bought pieces of Kyanite, one put hers in front of her computer screen and it turned brown and broke. The other friend put hers in her meditation room and it is still blue and fine. They say it absorbs radiation. I'll give it to people who have been through chemo therapy.

Stones were developing in the ground for millions of years and I don't like to push it but there has to be some sort of energy in them. Beads used to be currency for a long time, you know? First Nations people used to use beads to throw on the land as an offering before they settled on it. I have an energy reader who comes to the store on Saturdays. She just sits down and starts consulting your guides and her guides. She will ask you a random question like, "What's your favourite cookie?" and that helps her read your energy. It's fun to do.

I am so thankful I get to travel for my job. I go to China, Indonesia, Hong Kong. This (Above) is the girl I bought baskets off of in Bali. I sell them low so that they will sell and I can keep supporting the basket makers. (Below: More photos from Kayla's trip to Bali!)



From Indonesia I get all these glass beads. These are recycled beer bottles, these are televisions screens (pictured below)!


I sort of forgot that this was what I always wanted to do. My friends remind me. I have been blessed with friends who have helped me, especially with all the cabinets and drawers and renovations here.

I try to keep my prices real, I try not to gouge things. You shouldn't have to charge people more than they can afford and people should be able to walk away with something nice for themselves. I often get people coming in here for movies. People from the A-Team movie came and cleared me out of carved skulls and stuff. I can't wait to see the movie. One day I had Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Renolds come in. They were looking for stuff for their designer friend. They bought some wooden beads, Ryan modeled them for us. She looked gorgeous and not a stitch of make up on.
I am so thankful to be around lovely people that are just bopping around the store looking for cool stuff so they're not in a stress-y mood or anything. I want to stay in this location for as long as I can. I don't know what other neighbourhood would be right. I've been really lucky here. Beads are a destination spot, if they are a true bead freak will seek you out.

Above: Grub the shop dog.

story: Lucky's Comics

Lisa W. met with Ben of Lucky's Comic Store. Ben works for Gabe, who opened the store 15 years ago. It used to be in the storefront where Regional Assembly of Text is, a few doors down. Here is what Ben had to say:

Above: Ben poses for a few snapshots.

"I really liked comic books as a kid, yeah, I still like them. I don't like the super hero stuff, I like the kind of underground more avant garde, stuff like that; graphic novels that tell really good stories, something that's different. You can only read X-Men for so long……..for some people.

Gabe opened up Lucky's 15 years ago. It used to be at another location for about 4 years. I came here 3.5 years ago. I think it used to have a bit too much of a Magic Card feeling to it. I'm happy with the new colours it is painted, it brightened it up.

Above: the old skull gate.

Lucky's used to have this gate with skulls all over it. I was like, "You want kids to come in here?!"

A lot of regulars help support us for sure. They're the ones that know to come here to get different stuff. I think the general public is either totally blown away by this store or totally don't understand it at all. I've had a lot of people come in here and be like, "So, adults read these?" and I'm like, "Yeah, you'd be surprised."

We have a very specific selection of books. We are a niche store that is well known for that. Lucky's is the place to go to get really good graphic novels and lots of local artist's work.

I have had to run down shoplifters a few times. There were some kids here once who stuffed their bags with comics and then ran off. So I ran after them and brought them back here. I gave them two choices, I could call their parents or call the cops. They cried. One of them came back here and apologized.

It's a really hard business, especially right now. On the flipside there is so much amazing stuff that no one's buying. It's not a cheap hobby to have.

Above: Children's drawings inside Lucky's

I love this neighbourhood. I hope no one purposely burns down our building and opens up a Tim Hortons. No one wants that.

Above: one of Ben's drawings

I'm an artist myself and any media that's interesting I gravitate towards whether it's film, a painting or a good comic book. I like to know what is good right now and different. Working here has been a big eye opener for me, and I've been able to meet a lot of people who have helped me along. It's nice to be a part of the community."

Lucky's also has a gallery, this is the upcoming show!

story: The Regional Assembly of Text

Above: Rebecca stands in front of the wall of filing cabinets, one of which came from her mother's office.

Lisa W. met with Rebecca from Regional Assembly of Text. Rebecca is a co-owner of the store, an adorable text-based craft store on Main St, just near King Edward. Rebecca is from Calgary, her business partner and close friend Brandy is from Victoria. Rebecca currently lives on Commercial Dr, and rides her bike to work at 3934 Main St. everyday. The store is reaching its five year anniversary this coming August, and they are slowly getting busier and busier as time passes.

Here is what Rebecca had to say:

"Brandy and I met at Emily Carr and liked to collaborate. We both started printmaking and bookmaking. We started selling stuff at craft fairs and progressed from there. We did really well, and wanted to find a studio space together which eventually turned into finding a storefront together. We wrote a business plan, and searched until we found something we liked.

We knew in our hearts it would be Main St., and went through the motions of looking at spaces in Kits and Commercial Dr, but found a space on Main St near King Edward that we thought was the best fit. It took about a year of searching.

I like Main St. because there is a mix between old and new. I really like that there is still The Legion across the street and great restaurants that aren't too hip. As opposed to places like Kits where many spaces seem like they are just doing what they know sells.

Above: The back studio space.

We tried to make everything we sold. There is a studio space in the back with printing stations for us to create things. One of us usually works in the back while the other runs the store out front. We do all the prints in the back, and often collaborate with each other. But each of us has our own projects, some things are my baby, some are Brandy's baby. We work really well together, and I wouldn't open a business with anyone else.

Above: There is a cot in the top-left corner, covered by a blanket.

When we first opened we had a tiny spot for a cot in the back studio space, we used a little ladder to climb up there. We were working 6 days a week, ten hours a day, so we used to take turns having naps up there!

Above: The typewriter on the far left is Rebecca's Grandmother's typewriter, which she used to play office with as a little girl.

We have a lot of typewriters here now, and use them all during our monthly Letter Writing Club evening, which is the first Thursday of the month. At first it was started as something free to involve the community, I feel a bit weird about being so retail and consumerist involved. We didn't imagine it would be as popular as it is. Basically, at 7, people show up and use our typewriters and materials to write letters. These often seem to be letters for loved ones. At first we thought only a few people would come to these nights, but now we get 35 people or so every month, a few are regulars but for the most part it is new comers.

We also find a lot of people want to write articles about this event, and have received a lot of press for this event. We get a lot of newspapers and such writing about us. We don't do any advertising so word of mouth is really how we have gotten so many customers.

We fix typewriters as best we can, but usually just fiddle with them until we figure out how to make them work again. We have a typewriter repair fund and ribbon replacement fund (pic below) where people who come in just to use the typewriters donate money. Once we get enough we take typewriters we can't figure out how to repair to this guy in town who fixes them, he oils them up replaces the ribbon and makes them feel shiny and new again. It's not cheap, though.

Brandy and I are both big fans of zines. We both have huge collections. We started the Lowercase Reading Room to celebrate our love of zines. It used to be a gallery but it got to be too hard to keep up with. We still have book launches and little events, though.

Above: The Button Making station.

I like the idea of making your own cards. Someone once told me, "Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself."

I hardly ever buy cards, I always make them myself. We make pretty much everything here, and created a card-making station and a button-making station to celebrate that. I love when someone asks me if we have a specific card, and I can reply, "We don't, but you can make one yourself! "

Above: The card making station.

We have an old letter press in the back, which I wish I had more time to use. You have to place each letter one by one. I remember we had this group of students coming in to look at it, and wanted to use a different font, or make the letters bigger. It was kind of nice to say, this is all you can use, this is it. I feel like people are so used to having so many options and take for granted the old processes that got us to where we are now."

story: Pool parties, dance parties!

Two stories from Erin G!

I have lived in the Riley Park neighbourhood for 9 years. I live at Ontario and 23rd, just along the bike path in the house with the white dog in the window. Everyone in the neighbourhood knows the house because of the dog, and there is usually lots of bikes locked to the front steps. Our dog is like the ambassador of the bike path.

I have a pretty great story about our house:

There was this heat wave in August about four or five years ago and it was the hottest week ever. My roommates and I decided to go buy a 3 ft deep kiddy pool, big enough for the three of us and a couple of friends to sit and drink beers to cool down. It was in the front yard; people who were biking by used to stop and sit with us in the pool to cool down.

Eventually the landlord complained because it was "unsightly" and asked us to put it in the backyard. I was dragging the pool into the backyard when I guess I must have nicked it a tiny bit and didn't realize. I started to pump it back up again when I got it into the backyard, and filled it up. I went inside to phone some people to come over for a pool party.

The neighbours that lived in the basement had taken their dog for a walk. My boyfriend and I heard what sounded like a waterfall! I ran to my window and looked outside and saw that the pool had collapsed and all the water had flown into the bottom floor.

All the neighbours had heard the noise and were standing around watching. I started screaming; we grabbed all the blankets and towels we could find and ran downstairs to sop up all the water. The whole basement was soaked! I tried throwing buckets of water up the stairs but of course it just kept falling back downstairs. We worked so hard and so fast trying to get all the water cleaned up that my arms were sore for days. We somehow managed to clean it all up before my neighbours got back from walking their dog! You couldn't even tell anything had happened, it just looked a little cleaner than it was before!

So that was the end of the pool parties.

I also have a great story about Cinephile, where I've worked for about 5 years.

I decided that Friday is the most fun day to work, since you get the happy before dinner rush, and the slightly drunk after dinner rush. One night last summer I made a party playlist for the after dinner crowd. At about 9 o clock that song Hey Ya by Outkast came on. I was playing it pretty loud as the store was empty. But then a huge rush came. I noticed that people were slowly and quietly bopping their heads to the music, getting more and more into the song. Eventually, everyone noticed that everyone else was also into it and began to dance a little more. It turned into a full on dance

party! It was about 10 people who just danced for a little while, then stuck around and made friends! It was so hilarious!

story: 100% serious business

Once upon a time, Jenna and her co-worker were working at the cafe Re Entry Espresso during odd hours. They were supervising a student film crew filming a short film in Re Entry, about donuts, and they were all 100 percent SERIOUS BUSINESS. The Re Entry employees were there to close up the shop after they were done, which wouldn't be until the middle of the night! Jenna made her co worker hang out for a really long time to keep her company. As the two were taking a break by the outside basement door, a furious gust of wind slammed it shut, locking the poor girl and the young Jenna outside. Oh no! Feeling like it was an urgent emergency, the two girls sprang out of the doorway, running down the block like maniacs through the worst wind storm of '09. I forget the rest but something about how they got inside and weirded out everyone else by their hilarity.

The End.

From Jenna K

story: Les the Cobbler

Lisa Walker talks with Les Both – owner of Both Feet on Main Street.

Les was born on Vancouver Island in a town called Duncan. His parents are originally from Hungary. He moved to Vancouver when he was 2 years old. He apprenticed to become a cobbler after he graduated high school. Les found a post on a job board in the Manpower office, and worked at a shoe repair shop in Oakridge Mall for three years. He has worked in many different shoe repair stores over the years. Les sums up his past cobbler jobs, saying: “I worked in every store, so I had to buy my own!"

Him and his son were driving down Main Street one day and saw a shoe repair store at Main and 29^th. Les poked his head in and said, “Hey, wanna sell your store?”

The man who owned it said, “Yes!”

Les bought the place in 2002. Les’ wife Carol came up with the name, as Les didn’t want to have a generic shoe store name.

“This is the best place I’ve ever worked.” Les comments. He is happy to work for himself and do things exactly as he wants. “Nothing flashy or fancy, just putting in the hours.” Les says. He recalls that during the busiest times he has had to work 70 days straight, sometimes staying until 3am!

Les was happy to take on new cobbler apprentices and employees in 2008. He says he even gets a few people asking if they can volunteer their time to learn the trade. He recalls that when he first started hiring people he had to tell them “No boppin’ the customers!”

I asked “What’s bopping?”

Les rephrased, “No dating the customers!”

I was looking at the lovely artwork Les has on the store walls, and he pointed out a drawing, which was given to him by a customer as a gift. It is a line drawing of a young woman’s face. He said a few years after it was given to him a woman came in who looked just like the woman in the drawing, but older.

She stared at the drawing and said, “That’s me!”

Les was amazed, what a small world!

“Women want nice shoes, and want to come to a clean, tidy store.” Les said, after pointing out to me that 90% of his clients are female. His shop really is clean and tidy, but also very genuine and warm. The sign on the storefront window was painstakingly hand-painted; the furniture in the front room rich in brown tones and bought from the antique shop next door. Local art pieces are hung on the walls between sparse carefully chosen shoe products. Grinding noises flow in between classical music as the men in the back work away.

“I like to take things slow, do everything right the first time. I take pride in what I do.” He says.

Although I can see the McDonald’s right across the street, being in this shop feels like a different time; a time when people didn’t expect things in ten minutes. A time when people worked hard at their jobs, and instead of doing everything quick and easy, did things slow, by hand and with pride while the rest of the world rushes on by.