A ‘Winkle’ in Time

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Gifts should be special, not uninspired.

As time-pressed mothers continually in search of great gifts for friends, family and the occasional item for ourselves, we sometimes have to sacrifice our precious time to shop…for the sake of saving time, of course.

Good gift giving made easy, then? We found it for you at Periwinkle, which recently opened its second location on Eglinton Ave, just west of Avenue Road. The first store is on Bloor West and we love the concept—it’s a designer co-op. Local designers and artisans ‘rent’ space in the form of a shelf, a table, or a single rack from owner and local design advocate Cindy Yong, allowing them the opportunity to have a retail presence in high-trafficked neighbourhoods at a fraction of the cost they would pay to rent their own store.

What does this mean for us? Beautiful, unique and original gifts, clothing, and jewellery at more-than-affordable prices made by talented local designers from Toronto. Think of it as an Etsy.com or a One of A Kind Show with bricks and mortar for artists. We loved the beautiful and personalized (with their own face) girls’ dresses from ahhlena, the custom creations for home décor and children’s wear by Silver Lining Designs and great watches in all ranges of styles from May28th.ME watches.

Inspired by a store in Asia that sold products in small, glass-fronted cubbyholes (the true description of window shopping, no?), Yong’s store allows for accessible previewing of designers’ wares. Periwinkle introduces new products every couple of weeks as the current designers replenish their offerings with new designs they have created. Many do custom work as well—and the designers are rotated every four months or so, so if you like it, buy it or it may be hard to find again! 

Support local designers, score major points with a great gift and save money (and time)—now you’ve got a few things you can cross off your list.

Tested by Alison R., Toronto