Vancouver: Window shopping at Front & Company
If the hasty pedestrians who hurriedly make their way across town lift their heads for an instant, it is usually to glance at the outstanding displays they have come to expect in the windows of Holt Renfrew, the Bay, BCBG MaxAzria and Aritzia. It has become a part of our routine, the curiosity and excitement of being transported, if only momentarily, to some imagined place.
However, if you wish to witness something truly unique, I suggest you travel slightly off the beaten path to the fantastic place that exists behind the window panes at Front & Company (3772 Main St., 604-879-8431, frontandcompany.ca).
Since opening its doors in 1993, this new and used consignment shop has become an institution of sorts. Over the years, the size of the operation has grown to take over three buildings and their expansive windows now take up the better part of the block between 21st and 22nd avenues. But it’s not only the size of their window displays that impresses, in terms of props and products, they (and you) have the goods of over 5,000 consigners to choose from. Front & Company reopened this past January after a fire engulfed the largest of their stores and with great zeal have continued to surprise and delight appreciative pedestrian audiences with better window displays than ever.
Craig David Long is a Renaissance man with a post-modern sensibility. His interests in the arts, culture, fashion and design have collided over the years, shaping his thoughtful and observational writing style. Prior to becoming the regional winner of FASHION Magazine's 2008 Reporter Search contest for Vancouver, Craig had dabbled in the world of public relations, working with clients such as the Law Commission of Canada, Vancouver Magazine, Starbucks and Warner Bros. Pictures. He had also founded Vancouver's popular street-style blog, The Commodified (thecommodified.blogspot.com). Craig retired the site after two years, when he assumed his current role as the Assistant Editor of Vancouver's new regional lifestyle quarterly, Montecristo Magazine.
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