Business owner follows dream despite recession
Tanya Streeter Wilson is surrounded by colourful artwork, including her own – the hand-dyed and printed scarves on the wall – and that of 40 other artists.
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Growing up in Nanaimo, Tanya Streeter Wilson was one of those girls rummaging through thrift stores for junk she could turn into the latest fashions.
It’s no surprise, then, that after graduating from high school, she ended up in the art program at Capilano College.
At college, she learned everything from printmaking to weaving and soon found her niche with bright colours and vibrant prints. She returned to Nanaimo and worked out of her grandmother’s basement, selling her work in stores across the Island as well as Toronto.
“People notice that I have my own style – clean, simple and organic,” Streeter Wilson said.
But she needed a new challenge and in October of last year opened her retail art store, Artzi Stuff, on Wesley Street in the Old City Quarter.
“I thought, what could be a bigger challenge than opening a store in Nanaimo,” Streeter Wilson said.
The location, next to West Coast Floral and around the corner from Coombaya, presented itself after another business changed locations.
Streeter Wilson had 12 artists lined up to sell their work alongside her own in her new store – then the recession hit in full force.
“September was great and then in October the economy was collapsing,” Streeter Wilson said.
Many of her customers over the past year spent money on others, usually buying gifts and leaving items they might purchase for themselves. “People are really holding back on spending for themselves,” Streeter Wilson said.
u See ‘WOMEN’ /21
v2
