Design Stores
The Arthur
The Arthur is a vintage decor shop stocking unique pieces tagged with individual histories. Liz Ikiriko, owner of the new store on College at Euclid, tells me the shop was actually borne from her own family history.
"A few years ago I went out to Saskatchewan to help move my grandparents' things out of their home." That's when she discovered a whole collection of unique pieces in her grandparents' possession, things she couldn't possibly bear to see simply discarded.
"When was on maternity leave," Liz says, referencing her previous job as a photo editor at Toronto Life, "it seemed like the right time to really pursue this idea." So she continued collecting items and eventually opened The Arthur, named for her grandfather, as an online shop.
"But this was always the dream," Liz says, leading me through the narrow shop. "Besides, I began carrying things that were just too hard to ship."
The Arthur offers a whole range of vintage pieces, from a retractable science class amoeba chart from 1955 ($180) to an assortment of vintage salt and pepper shakers ($10). With so many varied, unique items, it's sort of hard for me to put my finger on the unifying elements of the collection at The Arthur.
"Basically," Liz says trying to clarify, "I pick things I love. I love well-designed old mechanics, especially since I come from a photo background. I love old cameras, typewriters, things you can still use in your everyday life."
And each item brings with it a story of a past life, some more literally than others. I'm thinking specifically of The Arthur's small collection of army blankets, many with a soldier's name still boldly embroidered in the corner. D. Brock's pale plaid blanket ($65), for example, is currently waiting at The Arthur.
The toys totally win me over, though. There are a couple of tin toy houses--a farmhouse and nursery ($30)--that are printed with meticulous detail inside, and a stack of old games including The Six Million Dollar Man and Chuck-a-Luck, ranging from $10-$30. Plus, for a little vintage make-believe, The Arthur has several custom compiled dress-up kits, including a "Tea for Two" kit with fancy hats, a tea pot, tea cups and more ($70).
Photos by Dennis Marciniak
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When a store sells things at such a high cost, what's the point in going there?......it's all about finding a true treasure for a super low price!
Nothing wrong with that, but it's a bit rich to portray it as a "favour"
It's a question of how valuable your time is. For most working grownups it's cheaper to pay a $20 premium on an item than it is to spend hours picking through thrift shops for the same.
There are plenty of businesses I don't enjoy, but I don't spew hate at them for what they're doing.
Good on her for having a dream and having the balls to see it through, the majority never will.
It seems like every food post has myriads of complaints, every store post has complaints over the style/selection, every other post has complaints about rob ford
Constructive criticism is one thing but the folks here are just plain mean. Why? Because, for some types of people, it's always more fun for to watch someone fail. Not to mention they'd probably never have the guts to say it if they were't so anonymous.
Congrats Liz, good on you.
Well done both of you. This was your dream, you did it, you should be proud.
The thing about these little antique/vintage stores is that they aren't created equal. Yes, some of them are pretty much just picking through the bins at Value Village and multiplying the price by 10, but some really are collecting pieces that most of us don't have the time or knowledge to find ourselves. And some are run by decent, hardworking local business-owners. So give them a little bit of credit.