Northern Expressions Art Gallery is ONE
It has been quite an incredible experience since DAY 1- door opening at Northern Expressions.
The idea of opening an aboriginal art gallery formed prior to Patricia and my return to Toronto after a seven years sojourn in the Inuit territory of Nunavik, Quebec. Â Patricia and I had been greatly impressed with the creativity of aboriginal artists, especially in the communities where we had lived, and had a few collections of soapstone carvings and pictures.
Before:
Of course, collecting art pieces and opening a gallery are totally different kettles of fish, nevertheless we felt energized to proceed with our business plan. We had a good business plan, previous retail experience and goodwill from family and friends and committed to make it happen.
With due diligence conducted, experts consulted, advice from friends and personal research, we finally decided to give it our best shot. Nevertheless, it has been a very interesting journey.
Midway:
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Opening:
It took all of six months of search to finally get our cute spot at the Atrium, Toronto.Â
Not to bore you, but here are a few little details about our journey so far:
- 3 sleepless nights before opening
- More sleepless nights after openingÂ
- 4 great core team members
- 100's of man hours
- 100's tiny little details to work on
- 1Â first customer
- More sleepless nights
- Wonderful customers
- Great friends who come in to visit regularly, chat and enjoy the pieces
- 8,078km farthest shipping distance to a customer - Japan!
- Still more sleepless nights
Current situation:
- Looking to serving more customers
- Great outlook for the future
- Expanding
Thank you!
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