Playing their cards right

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2011 (5633 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Good news for readers who wake up on Feb. 15 and realize that they didn’t get their sweet baboo a Valentine’s Day card: Anne Joudan, owner of the Paper Gallery, likes to wait a few days before bidding adieu to Cupid for another 12 months.

“Every year, without fail, somebody rushes in on the 15th or 16th, desperate for a card. So I usually keep a couple under the counter, for emergency purposes,” Joudan says, clarifying that the “somebody” she refers to is almost always male. “But it’s not like Boxing Day when you can get Christmas cards on sale. I still charge full price.” (What’s that, ladies? She should charge triple?)

This year marks Paper Gallery’s 35th year in business. To toast that anniversary — and to toast the second biggest card-sending day of the year, after Christmas — here are a few things you might not know about the tasteful gift shop located at 1437 Corydon Ave.

 

‘* Anne and her husband, Itzik, took over from the original owner, Lillian Neaman, 15 years ago. “There was never a ‘For Sale’ sign on the door,” Anne says, noting that she was a loyal customer long before she asked a real estate company to approach Neaman on her behalf. “Basically, we were looking for a venture, and we thought maybe Lillian was thinking about retiring.”

‘* The Paper Gallery moved into its current home– the former Dixon’s Pharmacy — in August 2006. Neaman opened the original store at the corner of Academy Road and Ash Street in 1976, before relocating to 404 Academy, about five years later. (Funny: you’d think a stationery shop would be more, you know, stationary.)

‘* Maybe it was in the cards: Anne has fond memories of Feb. 14, from her days at Montrose School. “Every year, we’d have a decorated box just outside the door of our room, where we’d put cards for everybody in class,” Anne says. “I always liked to be the one who got to make the box.”

‘* Well-read: There isn’t one card at the Paper Gallery that Anne or Itzik didn’t hand-pick themselves. The couple travels regularly to events like the National Stationery Show in New York City, where they spend hours on end sorting through thousands of greeting cards.

‘* Besides ephemera, Paper Gallery also carries a wide array of gadgets, some of which border on oddball. “We brought in something called Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover which has been selling like crazy,” Anne says. “It takes off blood, wine stains, you name it.” (Send a case to Charlie Sheen, pronto!)

‘* “Roses are red, violets are blue, I stole this verse, then gave it to you.” Anne says it is not uncommon for people to buy blank cards, then copy, word for word, sentiments from another card. “We don’t encourage plagiarism, but when somebody says, ‘This is perfect — mind if I write it down?’ what am I going to say?”

‘* The most famous person to darken Paper Gallery’s doors was probably Emmy-award winning actress Blythe Danner. Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom popped by in 2002, when she was in Winnipeg filming We Were the Mulvaneys. “We didn’t say anything when she was in the store, but we checked the American Express receipt after she left, to make sure it was her,” Anne says. (What did Danner buy, you ask? Christmas cards.)

‘* One carousel at Paper Gallery is devoted exclusively to cards designed by Winnipeggers. Elaine Shimani-Brown specializes in greeting cards that incorporate her love of origami. Shimani-Brown is also a Paper Gallery employee. “Whenever somebody comes to the till with a Winnipeg card, we make sure to tell them where it’s from,” Anne says. “And if it’s one of Elaine’s, we’ll say, ‘And the artist is standing right there.'”

‘* The toughest part of his job, Itzik says, is watching customers choose sympathy cards. “Sometimes they stop in on their way to the funeral; you see the pain in their faces while they’re studying the cards,” he says. “The nice thing,” his wife interjects, “is that the store has become a meeting place, of sorts. Oftentimes a person will be choosing a sympathy card, then bump into an old friend, who’s also here. Then the entire mood changes.”

‘* Paper Gallery is scheduled to close at 6 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, but that deadline is subject to change. In the pre-cellphone era, Anne was used to customers banging on her door at five minutes after six, begging to be let in. “Now they phone, saying they’re on their way and don’t lock the door just yet,” Anne says.

 

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca