Shopping in Regina

Slice Athletic Wear prefers to keep things local by sourcing the majority of the shop's moisture-wicking, stretchable workout clothing from Canada-based companies. The clothier fosters a close relationship with its suppliers and manufacturers to curate a collection that offers a range of fits for all body types and activities. Customers of any fitness level or preferred activity can find an outfit that fits their needs, such as shirts that help skin breathe during intense workouts or form-fitting jackets that keep the chill away when gyms forget to pay their gas bill.

Adam and Raina, the photographers and videographers behind Stick Productions, infuse each studio and on-location shoot with a lighthearted sense of fun, snaring professional, narrative shots of subjects in natural states of happiness. Specializing in wedding photography and videography, Adam and Raina strive to incorporate chosen on-location settings into their photos' overall composition, artfully manipulating natural light and adding a personalized signature to each candidly captured, photojournalistic image. In-studio portrait sittings allow time for clothing changes, whereas field shoots snap subjects at a favourite park, street corner, or space-shuttle launch pad.

Happily married shop owners Rachel and Sean Brimacombe refer to their business as their "love child," which makes sense considering that they created their aromatic enterprise together before getting married in the summer of 2011. From their location in the Cornerstone Balfour Boutique Mall, Lumsden Florist procures bundles of fresh flowers, fending off bumblebees still in hot pursuit to create signature arrangements for any occasion. Potted greenery and flowering tropical plants bring life into households and businesses, and gift baskets filled with gourmet snacks and bottles of wine make impromptu picnics a constant possibility. The Brimacombes consult with clients in their shop's parlour to design services for weddings or funerals, and offer delivery services for special surprise bouquets.

When Tracy and Derek opened Zippity Zoom Toys in 2009, they pinky swore never to sell "junk." The child-savvy couple hand selects each toy that gets shelved at their store, exercising a special fondness toward classic toys that never become passé with kids. Open seven days a week, Derek and Tracy believe that in an age of smartphones and other high-tech "adult playthings," a trip to the toy store should also delight grownups, since encountering a timeless toy can transport them back to childhood without pedaling a Big Wheel fast enough to open a time portal.

Blurry vision is not just an annoyance; it’s a health risk. So when the owners of Factory Optical saw a chance to vertically integrate their business model—and cut down time between an eye exam and obtaining glasses—they jumped on it. The optometrists inside their chain of retail stores can now send prescriptions to their own onsite labs, where technicians can create custom-fitted standard, progressive, and googly-eye lenses. The labs constantly seek out the latest technologies to improve vision, including digital lenses that decrease peripheral distortion and custom cuttings that alter lenses to accommodate the tilt of chosen frames.

Each store stocks a supply of more than 4,000 frames, including options from designer brands such as Coach, Armani, Ray-Ban, and Oakley. Every store also offers a two-for-one deal for each pair of prescription glasses sold, allowing clients to give a pair of glasses to a family member or pair their purchase with prescription sunglasses to avoid darkening regular specs with a whiteboard marker when leaving the house.

Coteau Books makes a home for Canadian writers’ words with their nonprofit co-op press, which publishes a wide range of opuses for all ages and focuses primarily on writers from Saskatchewan and the prairie provinces. The press began in Moose Jaw in 1975 as a channel for Saskatchewan poetry and gradually grew to encompass several genres for adults and children. Many of their featured titles have earned awards and nominations throughout the years, such as A Song for Nettie Johnson, a collection of short stories which won the Governor General’s Award in fiction in 2002. Coteau publishes first-time authors every year in addition to established Canadian scriveners, keeping the local literary scene fresh without hermetically sealing successful writers for preservation. Page-turners for children and teens captivate young and maturing minds with modern fiction such as Pelly, the story of a recently-relocated girl and her pelican friend, and historical fiction such as Full Steam to Canada, which is set at the turn of the 20th century.