Getting a card in the post is in itself a happy surprise. But opening a card from The Regional Assembly of Text is an occasion. The stationery shop and studio, which designers Brandy Fedoruk and Rebecca Dolen founded in Vancouver in 2005, and which now has another outpost in Victoria, has won over loyal customers and clients for its quirky, nostalgic aesthetic. Their stock spans stationery, cards, badges, and “little books” designed in-house, as well as items you might not have thought you needed: book-lending cards, rain checks and certificates for your top 10 friends.
Co-founders Brandy Fedoruk and Rebecca Dolen © Julia Loglisci
Among the bestsellers are postcards of the British Columbia region, and badge sets suited for “all types of folks”, says Fedoruk, whether it’s mushroom lovers, cyclists or fans of Quebec. “We always want people to feel welcome in our stores, have a warm feeling and curiosity and maybe surprise, and be charmed in some way,” she continues. “Nostalgia maybe too, a feeling of something from the past that is like a good memory.”
While the Vancouver shop is an ode to the 1960s office aesthetic (filled with filing cabinets and typewriters), the Victoria outpost is a grander showcase for its paper wares. Dating back to the 1890s, the space was once a hotel and is now a functioning office building. The interior is fitted out with original dark wood wainscoting, accordion doors and intricate tiling. Fedoruk, who grew up in Victoria, remembers what is now the lobby store as a newsstand in the 1980s and 90s. “It seemed entirely fitting that this little space would soon be full of paper once again,” she wrote in a tribute for the shop’s 10th anniversary.
