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!
"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.
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!)
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. 
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."
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 29th. 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.
