Barry Doupe is the Sole Owner of Hamlet Enterprises in Vancouver Island, BC Canada. We specialize in bringing new and unique mixed-media Arts and Handcrafts, as well as some manufactured items that are not easily found, if at all here on Vancouver Island. We have the wonderful advantage of being born here on Vancouver Island and have lived here all our lives, we are both in our mid 40's & we know what the wants and needs are of our fellow Islanders who live here all year long. Our Unique Gift Shoppe keeps prices affordable for the Average Middle-Income Canadian Family. Vancouver Island is literally saturated in Cdn Artworks, which is wonderful for our Tourist Season, however it makes gift giving choices for those of us who call VI home very difficult, as it seems that all of us have at least 2 pieces of Cdn Art and likely more if we take a look around our homes. Our Shoppe is truly dedicated to the people who live here, we do our best to keep our pricing affordable to the middle-class, however we do have some high-priced items, as well as some lower priced items as well. We strongly believe that the Arts were mean't to be loved and owned by everyone and not just the very wealthy, which is nothing more than a myth in my eyes. Every family should have 1 special item that is loved by the Family, and can be passed down from one Generation to the next, long after we are gone. The incredible handblown glass ornaments and the beautiful Woodcarvings of Russia that make everyone smile and remenice about Christmas's and Family and Friends from yrs gone by come flooding back from our Memories just at the mere sight of it, which makes Christmas so very special and close to our hearts. We are searching for wholesale Ride-On Plush Ponies, Peddle Cars, which must run on "Kid Power" only! It is very important that the items we purchase for children, do not require batteries or electricity of any kind. They must allow children to use their developing imaginations, and creativity as well as the childhood gift of "Playing Pretend" to be for sale in our Gift Shoppe. Many Parents who live here on the Island have many worries about what the future will hold for today's children who have become addicted to Game Machines, or Computer Games, tossing their all too short childhood's away to stare blankly at a computer screen or TV Screen alone for every waking hour that they are not in School. We agree with today's Parent's, 100% , and only 10-15% of my Customer Base own Computer's here, as they feel that their children get all the computer time they require at School, and weekends are mea'nt for having Family Time, hiking, fishing, etc playing with friends after homework is done, and just being children, like we were when we were young, and so were our own children. We have moved from our small location and we are presently renovating a larger space, that has a small amount of storage space as well. This allows us to offer items that are unique from a few more Countries, and fulfilling the "wishlists" of my Customers. We sell directly to the Public only, and we do not own a Website. We need to have the ability to purchase small amounts several times per year, so we can stay on top of anything that is new a supplier thinks we would be interested in. Due to the fact that we are buying items which we have only seen photo's of, it is cruicial to the livelihood of our Business that a Company must be willing to offer a sample of an item we have not purchased before to see if some items will be well-received or not. Help in this area will be greatly appreciated.
