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PressJune 2006
| | UNPREDICTABLE TREASURES ARE A SUREFIRE HIT AT VANCOUVER’S “dear, home décor + gifts”
- Canadian House & Home magazine
| | FIND IT: www.dearhome.ca ,Vancouver (604)733-9233 **have moved online in 2008**
THE HISTORY:
Owner Win Liu felt there was a dearth of home accessories shops peddling witty, inimitable merchandise in Vancouver. So Liu, who graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with a fine arts degree in fashion and painting (and who had previously designed clothing under a label called Dear John), opened an emporium in Vancouver's South Granville neighborhood in June 2005. She now combs this continent and Europe, particularly Paris, in search of quirky accents that speak to the fun and funky at heart.
THE STYLE:
This modern, multilevel, 1,200-square-foot space has an airy feel that creates a simple backdrop for the tongue-in-cheek merchandise.
HOTTEST ITEM:
Boris Bally's Transit Chairs, fashioned from aluminum highway signs and with champagne corks for feet, are cult-status collectibles for chair fanatics ($1,400).
BEST BUYS:
Peel-and–stick wall decals by California's blik are apt graphics for the commitment-phobic ($26 to $73). For hipster hostess gifts, try Archipelago Botanical's soy candles ($13 to $28).
DON'T MISS:
The Constellation Chandelier by Propellor Design ($900 to $3,200) and pastel candy dishes by Laura McKibbon, also fab as catchalls for jewelry or loose change (from $24).
--- Susie Wall |
December 2005
| | Dear gifts for the home
- Province
| | Win Liu, owner, dear, home decor + gifts, south Granville at 6th.
Why the name?
"Dear John" has always been my clothing label - John is both my father's and husband's name. But I thought just calling the store 'dear' was appropriate. Everything in the store should be just as dear to me as to the customers. It's a reminder to myself when I go on buying trips.
Inspiration?
I try to find unusual things which make me laugh or my blood flow faster when I see them. Somehow I think being a big fan of David Bowie and Michael Jordan has something to do with the inspiration part – Bowie’s creativity and, in Michael Jordan's case, his amazing willpower.
Goal?
To add a bit of happiness to life. Life is fun. Don't take it too seriously.
Role models?
Karen & Joan's- this unique gift shop on Burrard in the '90s. Michael Jordan, and of course, my parents. I got my funky retail experience working at Karen & Joan’s. I learned so much.
Local artisans: a good resource?
I do a few, but local talents are hard to find. They're hiding! But more local or Canadian artists would be a great.
Why south Granville?
I didn't want to be downtown. When I was at Karen & Joan's, people stole things right out of the store! I was so offended I chased them down the street until finally Karen and Joan made me stop. Also, maybe I wanted to be amongst all the galleries here.
Store design: major or minor issue?
Major! I was lucky to find and work with a group called Karo Design, they have been superb and I got some great input from them. They've done a fabulous job of the shop design, I think they're entering this project for some award. Good luck, guys!
What's your sport?
I loved the NBA when you-know-who was playing. Michael Jordan was one of the reasons I chose Chicago for school! Now I've jumped on the Canucks' wagon. But to play, I'd have to say bowling. And snowboarding in Whistler, but I'm so busy I don't remember the last time I went.
Guilty pleasure?
Bruster's ice cream - it's old-fashioned ice cream sold only in small towns in the eastern U.S. The Blue Note jazz bar in New York. Scotch. Good red wine. Cuddling with my cats.
--- Jeani Read |
September 2005
| | Dear devoted to whimsy but of 'really good quality'
- Vancouver Sun
| | If ever there was a shop devoted to whimsy, it's Dear. Even its name is precious -- it's actually "dear," comma included, like the start of a thoughtful note to a friend.
Owner Win Liu, whose background includes stints as a fashion designer and a fine-arts student, opened the shop in June as an outlet for her creative impulses.
On shopping trips to New York, Toronto and Europe, Liu looks for things that are "fun, different, with an edge, but they have to be really good quality."
She hand-picks everything -- from rubber bands in the shapes of animals ($6.45 to $11.45) to chairs made from recycled highway signs ($1,400).
Some things are just plain fun, like lawn ornaments for houseplants, tiny versions of the ubiquitous pink flamingoes, lawn jockeys and gnomes ($7 each).
There's a retro-kitsch appeal to the store's souvenir pillows ($195 to $270), hand-embroidered with historical landmarks and cliches -- Canada's features a polar bear, a beaver, an igloo and a Mountie.
And there's even an edgy menace to Dutch-made handbags with the impression of a handgun or a knife protruding from their felt fronts ($269) -- perhaps not the best thing to take through airport security, although Liu says that's been done and the bag bearers have not been shackled and strip-searched.
Even the jewellery is more attention-grabbing than conventionally pretty, such as the German-made holographic cuffs ($58.99) that alternate between images of a lacy diamond bracelet and an X-ray of the wrist when tilted back and forth.
Some items "appeal only to a certain group of people -- I know that, but I am not aiming for the mass market," Liu says.
But everyone from yuppies to grandmothers have been snapping up the translucent brown plastic teddy-bear banks ($14.95) that line the store's front window. "They are so popular -- they also come in orange, but I am sold out of them right now," she says. "People come in and grab two or three at a time."
Liu's only dilemma is that she gets so attached to what's on the shelves that she hates to see it go out the door. She knows she has to learn to let go, "but it's hard."
Aside from the ringing of the cash register, the one thing that makes her feel better is when customers get the same kick out of an item that she does.
"Life is so serious. You should have things that make you laugh when you see them," she says.
--- Joanne Blain |
September 2005
| | Oh Dear
- Western Living
| | While some furniture is content to sit demurely, adding functionality or contributing to ambience, chairs by Boris Bally scream to stand out on their own. Created from recycled traffic signs, these vivid seats are functional pop art that promise to brighten your space rather assertively. Available at the newly opened Dear, they're admittedly not for every taste. If you prefer less-bossy interior décor, you'll still find something near and dear here. "Anything that catches my eye," is owner Win Liu's design credo when she's out combing North America and Europe for hand-picked favourites. Stock includes fundy illustrated dishes by local artist Laura McKibbon and lighting from Vancouver's own Propellor that runs from modern chandeliers of red plexiglass tubling to whimsical wall lights made with baby-bottle ni-pples. Dear me! 2212 GranvilleSt., 604-733-9233.
--- S.M. |
July 2005
| | Press Release
| | dear, home decor + gifts Opens on South Granville VANCOUVER (June 28, 2005) – dear, home decor + gifts is one of South Granville’s newest retail boutiques. With a background in fashion design and fine arts, owner Win Liu selects every item to match her own eclectic, sometimes offbeat, taste. Liu travels extensively searching for truly unique pieces that appeal to people like herself.
“Ever since I was young, I’ve always looked for things that are really different to give to my friends and family. So many stores carry the same lines and styles, we don’t sell popular pieces,” says Liu.
Designed by Karo, the 1,200 square foot gallery-like space is homey and comfortable. Liu didn’t want a shop that was intimidating to walk into.
dear, features lighting from local design company, Propellor – Emily Carr graduates who design and manufacture unique lighting (e.g., a wall mounted wooden light incorporating baby bottle nipples). There are outrageous but funky handbags from the Netherlands made of leather and fine felt with a handgun or knife relief on the side – not recommended for airport travel. Liu’s favourite item is an aluminum candleholder shaped like a large branch. There’s an emu-shaped table from France and most striking, the six-foot high pencils coat rack from Italy. Other unusual items include metal chairs made from recycled highway/road signs.
“We’ve searched the globe for unique objects to shape the home environment.” says Liu. “Every room in every home should reflect ourselves and the things we treasure.” |
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