Edward Chapman

Allow me to tell you a story. It was my dad’s 65^th birthday a few weeks ago. He’s complained of cold hands a lot recently, so I thought a nice pair of leather winter gloves would be the perfect gift.
My first stop in my search was Edie Hats. I love Edie and her shop, but their gloves were a little too pricey for my Dad. He’s not a fancy guy, and would have been put off by something quite that chichi. Next stop the Bay. I hate the Bay. That trip made me hate the Bay more. Nuff said.
From the Bay, I actually was on my way to a Unilocal Elite event, when I walked past Edward Chapman. Not a place I would shop for me, but their line in classic English stodge struck me as ideal for paternal glove shopping. They were closed, but I resolved to call the next day.
I did. They are planning to move their downtown location to a smaller shop, so most of their stock is on sale. As a result, the woman on the line told me she had only a single pair of men’s leather gloves in stock. They sounded perfect however — brown lambskin with lamb fleece inside, size large.
I called near the end of the day to find out if she still had the gloves. She did. «You’re open til 6, right?» (I’d read the sign on the door the night before.) «Oh, no,» she said. «We usually close at 5.»
Tragedy! I told her I work in Burnaby. «When can you get here?» she asked. I said it would take me 30 or 40 minutes. She said she would stay open! I raced down there as fast as public transit could take me, and lo and behold, the shop’s light was still on when I arrived. Not only were the gloves perfect, it turned out they were on bigger sale than the price she had quoted me over the phone. Happy Birthday, Dad!