V.I.A.’s Home Grown features only the most awesome companies in Vancouver. From tiny, single-person operations to the big players, we profile our favourite businesses and interview their owners.

Vancouver Special Established 2008 www.vanspecial.ca

Vancouver Special is a fantastic design/book/housewares/furniture store on Main street that more than a couple V.I.A. contributors call one of their favourite stores in the city. The shop’s goal is “to promote the idea that good design can be accessible, affordable, of high quality and bring pleasure to daily life”, and if you step inside their doors you’ll find that they’re doing a damn fine job of achieving that.

On any given day you’ll find Vancouver Special’s proprietress, Anne Pearson, working at the store. We caught up with her for a few questions…

If your store was known for only one thing amongst your customers, what would it be?

That it’s approachable. The message I’m trying to get across is that good design doesn’t have to be incredibly expensive or elitist. Hopefully when people come in the store they don’t feel intimidated, but feel like they can sit on the sofas, thumb through the books and make themselves at home. I’ve never understood why some businesses actually strive to project attitude – cause for me, having to interact with a stuffy salesperson in square black glasses is not my idea of a good time.

Aside from your own, what’s your favourite business in the city, and why?

Happy Bats Cinema. Those guys have got it nailed. I love it when people who start businesses do what they know well. Their film knowledge is really broad; they can easily talk Wong Kar Wei or Cassavettes, yet they don’t give me any attitude if I rent Harold and Kumar. I keep hearing people say that video stores are going to become obsolete because of downloading, but half the fun of renting a movie is going to the video store and talking to people about movies and getting recommendations. If I didn’t have my own store, I’d just want to work there.

Does anybody who works there live in a Vancouver Special?

No, none of us do… but it is a dream of mine to buy a Special and gut it. There’s a yellow and white one in my neighborhood that I’ve got my eye on. Specials get a bad rap, but they have great bones: very open floor plans, lots of potential.

What keeps you here? Like what’s the best thing about Vancouver?

The view of the Lions on a sunny day in the winter is hard to beat, but one of the things that makes Vancouver really interesting for me is the strong Asian culture. I lived in Japan for a year, so it’s important to me that I can get my fix of Takoyaki and Karaoke once in a while. I love the Richmond night market, and going to the Aberdeen Mall actually feels like I’ve been teleported to Asia. In addition, the prevalence of really authentic Asian food in Vancouver is outstanding – I love all the Pho, Sushi, as well as Beard Papas and Japadog. If only someone would only open a Mos Burger and a Muji here I’d be set.

www.vanspecial.ca