Shopping in Richmond

Staking a space inside the Doctor Vigari Gallery, framing ace Wendy Berry activates her longtime artist's eye while preserving clients’ mementos in technically sound and visually pleasing styles. When customers bring their special items and works to Wendy, she uses knowledge culled from her master's degree in fine arts and her background as an artist of more than 20 years to creatively build framing solutions for every project she takes on. A seemingly boundless assortment of framing options lines the walls of her framing area, inspiring visitors with styles that can help safeguard or beautifully hang anything from sports memorabilia and diplomas to family photos.

Beyond framing, Wendy's experience and education enable her to execute a number of other services, such as digital printing and creating 3-D shadowboxes. She also performs home consultations to help customers aesthetically sort out decor choices and help them choose the most unassuming portraits for concealing secret safes stocked with smaller secret safes inside.

At Vivio Flower Gallery, owner and floral design expert Patricia Navarro creates elegant arrangements with a blend of classic and exotic flora. The gallery showcases seasonal and occasional creations, with creative twists on valentine’s day bouquets – including a three-foot centerpiece of Ecuadorian roses – Christmas-themed vases, and wedding designs.

For more than two decades, hobbyists and comic fans have gathered at Big Pete’s Collectibles, perusing the ample selection of issues from DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and independent publishers or adding to collections with the shop’s enormous stock of toys. Latest editions of comics and voluminous backlogs of old issues keep readers up to speed on the exploits of superheroes or storylines of indie serials, and comic-themed T-shirts give wearers at least some protection from stray laser blasts. Guests can load up their shelves with Pete’s emporium of figurines and statuettes and plan for rainy-day entertainment with the generous stock of board games.

A native of sunny Australia, GumDrops’ founder Liz Jerrett learned to cope with Vancouver’s overcast days by acquiring a collection of fun, fashionable wet-weather gear. GumDrops Wet Weather Boutique, spotlighted in BCLiving, supplies waterproof rain wear for the whole family from brands such as Hunter, Bogs, and Kamik, a company that hand-plucks recyclable rain boots grown in the meadows of Quebec. Along with donating proceeds to environmental causes, GumDrops carries its own line of Canadian-made trench coats and a line of repairable umbrellas. A commitment to the environment affects every aspect of store operations, with staff plugging in energy efficient bulbs and stocking shelves made of salvaged construction waste. Jerrett’s flamboyant fashion sense extends to the store's interior, with its ever-changing theatrical window displays, hanging umbrellas, and wall of patterned rain boots.

Hailed by the Vancouver Sun for “gathering an exciting inventory of plants” that has helped him build Phoenix Perennials into "one of the best known destinations for home gardeners and plant enthusiasts from all over the Lower Mainland,” Gary Lewis keeps his shop stocked with a selection of upwards of 4,000 varieties of garden plants. Under Gary’s capable helm, a knowledgeable staff tends to the greenhouse’s lush vegetation, assisting shoppers and answering questions about rumours of killer tomatoes. To further bolster patrons’ flora-centric savvy, Gary imparts his substantial know-how upon pupils of all ages with monthly e-newsletters and a host of workshops and classes held throughout the year. An in-nursery design service pairs patrons and a trained design professional who architects a custom garden blueprint based upon photos of the space, a detailed client questionnaire, and the dimensions of existing secret gardens.

In a shop surrounded by free-ride, downhill, and extreme mountain-bike trails, the cycling crew at On Top Bike Shop understand and foster passions for trailblazing by caring for two-wheelers with a slew of services. Striving to provide everything needed to trundle freely in the great outdoors, the shop suits up cyclists in clothing and accessories such as Dakine jerseys and helmet visors by Giro. Bikes from local brands including Banshee, KHS, and Manhattan Cruisers taunt gravity by hanging from the shop's ceiling and walls and bragging about their summers at space camp.