Vancouver Special opened in 2008, and as the name implies, it is filled with curios and specialty items that will make any home unique. The large shop with bright white walls and colourful items spills with carefully curated treats from all over the globe. Vancouver Special offers a little bit of everything including apartment-sized furniture, colourful pillows and throws, vintage-style radios and some of the most beautiful art and architecture books to grace a coffee table.
Vancouver Special is the brainchild of owner Anne Pearson, who graduated from UBC with an art history degree and later, an architecture Masters degree. But after two years of practicing architecture and craving a more social profession, Anne brainstormed a way to link her two passions. “I started making lists of concepts and products that I was thinking about for some kind of public retail venture,” says Anne. She originally wanted an art gallery, then bookstore, then furniture shop, and today Vancouver Special is a hub for all three and more. “It’s an expression of my background,” says Anne.
