On Sept 27 Amir Ardekani held a Grand Re-opening event for his Store, Atlantic Persian Rugs, at their new location at 94 Germain St. in Uptown Saint John. While the new store is just a few doors down from the previous location on Germain, the new location has 3 times the space of the old store, and allows Ardekani to stock 4 to 5 times the amount of inventory; currently he has over 1,000 rugs on site.
Amir came to Canada from Iran (Persia) back in 2000, and was working as a computer software analyst, when the idea of opening a Persian Rug retail store came to him. After receiving a number of requests for Persian Rugs once friends and colleagues learned that his family ran a rug making business back in Iran, Amir decided to open the store in Saint John, and now provides rugs to customers throughout New Brunswick, and the Maritimes.
The store carries both authentic handmade (hand-knotted) Persian/Oriental rugs and high quality machine made rugs. The products include: area rugs, hallway runners, stair runners, wall hanging rugs, and tapestries. In the handmade collection includes Classic Persian rugs like Tabriz, Bijar, Kashan, Nain (Naen), Turkman, Bukara, Chobi, Tribal, Mahi, Kirman, Tribal Persian Rugs like Turkman, Baluchi, Bukara (Bokhara), and Antique Persian rugs. Some of the Antique rugs are over 50 years old, but still look like brand new.
Amir explains that it is the quality of the materials, and the expertise of the rug makers that give the authentic Persian Rugs their durability, as well as their beauty. In fact, Amir can provide information on the intricate details, and rich history of Persian Rugs, and rug making. For example, historians have traced the origin of Persian rugs back 2,500 years, and the names of the rugs are actually based on the towns where they are made. Culturally significant symbols, and even the rug maker’s signature can be found woven into the patterns.
Each handmade rug pattern is produced in limited quantities, making them basically unique: you will certainly not find any two of a kind rugs at the store, and most likely not even within Canada.
Not only are the rugs available at Atlantic Persian Rugs, functional in providing warm, comfortable floor coverings, they can be an essential element in the room décor, their history also make them interesting conversation pieces.
The store is open Mondays through Saturday from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm.
For more information, Amir can be reached at (506) 652-4547. Additional details , and photos are available at Atlantic Persian Rugs website, or on Facebook
Abraham and Sarah Kim have made this Korean cookie their specialty and you can check it out at Hodo Cookies & Chocolate Shop in the City Market.
The shop sells a wide variety of chocolate goodies that will be very familiar to locals but the centerpiece of the business is the hodo cookie machine, a factory-looking machine and conveyor belt system that produces the special cookie.
A hodo cookie, named for the Korean word for walnut, is a walnut-scented dough stuffed with a sweet red bean paste that makes for a truly luxurious delight. Unlike most sweets though, these are as much about nutrition as anything else. The dough is baked not fried and the red bean paste filling carries many health benefits. Having the cookies made fresh on site means they have an unmistakably "fresh from the oven" quality.
The hodos are easy on the wallet too – you can grab a dozen hodo cookies for just $5.00, tax included.
The Kim’s are hoping their cookies will become a regular snack for City Market shoppers. Hodo Cookies and Chocolate Shop opened in December, 2010.
With the opening of two Candy Shops this past summer, and now with the opening of Piece O’ Cake Custom Creations, things are looking sweet in Uptown Saint John.
Sherry Brown, the owner of Piece O’ Cake, has been baking specialty cakes, and cupcakes for two years now. Things got started when, while on maternity leave, Sherry was invited to attend a cake-baking course with a friend.
Sherry used the methods and techniques learned on the course to make specialty cakes for family members, and friends. Having found a talent, and passion for making specialty cakes, Sherry started taking orders, and launched a Facebook page for Piece O’ Cake Custom Creations. While many “brick & mortar” businesses launch Facebook pages to support their business, in Sherry’s case, the success of her Facebook page (over 4,600 Facebook fans!) lead to the opening in September of the Piece O’ Cake Custom Creations store at 91 Prince William.
“Coco Loco, Razzle Dazzle, Mint To Be” are just three of the 11 different types of cups cakes that are available on a regular basis, plus a featured “ Flavour of Week” – at the time of writing, the flavor of the week was “Strawberry Champagne”!
A quick look through the Piece O’ Cake’s Facebook photo gallery, shows that in addition to traditional specialty cakes such as wedding, birthday, and anniversary, Sherry has made a number of specialty themed cakes, featuring celebrities, cartoon characters, and sports, there is even a Fenway Park cake - green monster included!
The store also offers samosas, and a special product called Cake Shooters; what’s a Cake Shooter? Well you will have to stop by the store and try one out.
Piece O’ Cake Custom Creations is open from 10 to 6 Mondays to Thursdays, 10 to 8 Fridays, 10 to 4 Saturdays, and closed Sundays.
For more information is available at the Piece O’ Cake website, or follow on Twitter @pieceocake11
You might say that Michelle Alward, the owner of Crystals & Karma (122 Hampton Rd Rothesay), practices what she preaches.
Alward opened Crystals & Karma back in May of this year, renting a section of another store at the 122 Hampton Rd location, and while expansion was something she was planning for sometime in the future, the opportunity presented itself this summer when the other store moved to a new location. So call it fate, or good Karma, this development allowed Alward to take over the entire space, and add the SereniTea Tea Room to her offering of Crystals, Clothing, Essential Oil, Tumbled Gem Stones, New Age/Spirituality books and CDs.
The SereniTea Tea Room will have seating for 30, and offer 30 types of organic teas including familiar names such as English Breakfast, Peppermint and Chamomile, there are others with more exotic names like: Kashmiri Chai, Citrus Punch oolong, Pomegranate Tulsi, and Blue Unicorn.
The teas are also available in 6 variety sample packs, and come in attractive wooden boxes, which would make a great gift for the tea lover.
One of the most interesting items in the store are the Singing Bowl, available both in Crystal, and Tibetan Brass Bowls. Each Singing Bowl produce a “pure sound”, which are designed to align, and energize one of the seven Chakras, or energy centers of the body.
The bowls are struck with a mallet to get the vibrations started, and then the mallet move around the top edge of the bowl; after a couple circles, the bowls start to “sing”. You can actually feel the vibrations emitted by the bowls. Definitely something that needs to be experienced in person to be truly appreciated.
In addition to the Tea Room, the store currently offers mediation sessions Tuesday evening from 7-9, and Michelle plans to offer other workshops, a book club, and live music on the weekends.
More details available on Crystals & Karma's Facebook page.
