It was the old building on Hudson Bay Street and 3 Avenue that enticed Sara Vande Vyver and her partner David Hoy to relocate from the hustle and bustle of Burnaby to Hope.
The pair had been thinking of moving somewhere smaller to start a business together. After friends told them about their plans to move to Hope, they took a tour to see what kind of spaces were available.
In their drive around town they happened upon the two-storey wooden building with the vintage trading post sign on the front. Not seeing any information about renting, Vande Vyver hand-wrote a note for the owners of the building.
“I kind of wedged (the note) in the door and two weeks later we ended up getting a phone call,” she said. “When we stumbled upon this place, it was exactly what we envisioned. It was like it was meant to be.”
Hoy said the two had been imagining a space almost exactly like the building, which Vande Vyver said once housed a butcher, an antiques store and a flower shop.
“When we thought about having a business, we kind of both envisioned something like this. We envisioned a rustic building, with the windows in the front, and it kind of fit with our vision,” Hoy said.
They opened Enchanted Crystals Garden and Gifts late last month and have been steadily filling the store with a variety of plants, planters, garden decorations, crystals and natural healing products. The store also offers custom floral arrangements.
“I love plants, he loves rocks and gems. We’re both silversmiths. So we just decided to open up a plant and rock and gem store,” Vande Vyver said.
“I think we complement each other, I deal with a lot of the artistic, plant stuff and he deals with the business side of things.”
The space has been repainted purple, Vande Vyver’s favourite colour and one she said would mesh well with the green of the flowers and plants. Their white chihuahua Keeto, 11 years old with the energy of a puppy, greets every customer with a few barks and an invitation to cuddle.
The two plan to expand into workshops in their areas of interest as well as community building projects—Vande Vyver wants to do fairy garden and terrarium workshops with children and seniors, something she did at her previous job, and Hoy is all about gems and crystal healing.
“Each (crystal) has its own energy or frequency that it sends out, so when you put it close to your body into your energy system, it has an effect on you,” he said.
Hoy and Vande Vyver said they are both enjoying the move from the city.
While Hoy said feels tired at the end of the day, it is a fulfilling feeling rather than a feeling of being completely drained of energy like he did in the city.
Vande Vyver added the outdoors are perfect for the two nature lovers.
“Waking up every day and seeing mountains everywhere is really nice,” Hoy added.
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