Store Guide: Old Faithful Shop, the Vancouver general store’s new Queen West outpost
Name: Old Faithful Shop
Sells: Household goods, apothecary products, books
Contact info: 886 Queen St. W., oldfaithfulshop.com
Hours: M-Th 10-6, Fr-Sa 10-7, Su 11-6
Vancouver’s Old Faithful Shop has just opened a Toronto outpost on Queen West. Walter Manning, who co-founded the store’s west coast location in 2010, draws inspiration from his grandparents’ convenience store in Newfoundland. “I thought it was cool that people would come into their store for a potato or can of beans, but they’d return for that sense of community. To me, that was missing from retail,” he says.
His modern take on the general store means the Toronto outlet is full of items for the home that are equally beautiful and functional (even rows of brooms and dustpans manage to be aesthetically pleasing). Visitors will find cocktail bitters alongside colourful Mast Brothers chocolates, silver kettles next to balls of twine and high-end apothecary products on top of hardcover cookbooks. There are also a ton of great gift items, including a DIY gin kit, military-grade woollen blankets and decadent caramel sauce. As far as prices go, there are no bargains on pot scrubbers. “The shop’s about investing in home products for longevity, rather than buying a cheap piece of plastic,” Manning says. Another reason to stop by? The store’s adorably rambunctious bulldog, Kevin.
