Rebecca Dolen and Brandy Fedoruk have created two wonderfully engaging stationery stores. Inspired by all things nostalgic: vintage office supplies, old textbooks, maps and product design from days gone by, they founded the charmingly-named stationery store, The Regional Assembly of Text, in Vancouver in 2005. The store focuses on text as a theme and features many goods designed by the partners. In fact, the 100+ greeting cards that are sold in the shop are all designed by Rebecca or Brandy.

A second location of The Regional Assembly of Text opened in Victoria's vibrant & historic Market Square in the lobby of the beautiful Milne building, built in 1891.

The Vancouver store features a Letter Writing Club and a Reading Room. Both shops feature working typewriters that are available for a small fee to compose personal missives and button making machines.

"We know in our hearts that unique retail is the foundation of neighbourhoods and community. We have high hopes that enough people continue to support local businesses that are striving to make our communities welcoming, engaging & vibrant."

What makes The Regional Assembly of Text so unique? We aim to create an atmosphere that inspires people to keep in touch with the ones they love in a way that has become less common, but is perhaps more meaningful… via post or with a hand delivered letter. We design all our own greeting cards and as many stationery items as we can, so you will find things here that you have never seen before. Our products are created to be engaging and interactive and many of our greeting cards have questionnaires, pencils, pockets, wheels, tickets and buttons… to amuse & delight.

Why should people visit The Regional Assembly of Text?

• To sit and use one of our typewriters to type a letter on a pretty piece of stationery.

• To browse our collection of zines and self published artist books in our lowercase reading room at our Vancouver location.

• To find the perfect journal, pen or greeting card and be surrounded by other paper people.

Why did you choose the name? We knew we wanted to outfit our first location with vintage office supplies and a beautiful wall of filing cabinets, so we endeavoured to think up a name that sounded very official. At the time, we were inspired by a gallery in Victoria called The Ministry of Casual Living , and a music venue in Anacortes called The Department of Safety . We knew that writing & text would be a big part of our shop and we also knew that we would be making & assembling a great deal of things, so, The Regional Assembly of Text was born.

What are your “must-have” products? Our Stationery A Month Club has become a popular item for those who love to send and receive mail. Each month, for twelve consecutive months, members receive a little curated envelope of paper ephemera & inspiration to write one heartfelt letter. And the little books we have published over the years seem to sell as fast as we can assemble them, a couple favourites, One Shrew Too Few by Rebecca and 172 Things ‘to do’ in order to increase your level of accomplishment by Brandy.

Rebecca Dolen and Brandy Fedoruk, founders of The Regional Assembly of Text

What inspired you to open The Regional Assembly of Text? We met at The Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and both loved printmaking & book making. These two passions lend themselves well to making multiples, proliferating, sharing & selling. While at school we collaborated on a number of projects and curated a series of book shows together and dreamed about one day opening our own studio where we could offer our weird and wonderful creations.

What did you do before The Regional Assembly of Text? After graduating with our Fine Arts Degrees, we worked for a couple years, Rebecca for a screen-printing company and Brandy at a hardware store, all the while plotting to open up the shop we had been dreaming of.

What are your favorite local independent businesses? In Vancouver we love Coco & Olive for our morning coffee & croissant, Lucky’s Comics for their incredible selection of books and East West for all our grocery needs. In Victoria, our morning coffees are often to be found at Hey Happy, and our afternoon happy hours at Whistle Buoy or The Drake, all located in Market Square.

Favorite shops

• Present & Correct , London

• Recess, Calgary

• 826 Valencia Pirate Supply Store, San Francisco

"It was hard not to feel discouraged during the pandemic, with more people working from home and shopping online. We ourselves would have had a very hard time without our online sales, and are so thankful for the new and expanded community we connected with during this time. If anything though, the pandemic helped solidify our belief that in order to be successful as a brick & mortar shop, it is essential to offer a unique experience, whether that be an atmosphere, a service or a product that can’t be found elsewhere."