Saskatoon spotlight: Hen + Chick Studios

I am nearly impossible to buy for. Just ask my mom. One year, my wish list (of which she requires submission by December 1) was literally my grocery list, a move that was met with an eye roll and hilarious compliance. Yes, I got groceries for Christmas and it was glorious. See, I have a mandate of not consuming for the sake of consuming, and I want every piece that comes into my life to count. That’s why, as both a gifter and a giftee, I appreciate Hen + Chick Studios. A literal hundred percent of the time, I find something worthy of coming into my life or that I’m happy to gift into someone else’s. IT IS A LOCAL TREASURE and if you don’t already shop there, get thee to 2nd Avenue pronto.

Their diverse stock is well-curated for everyone on your list from babies to great-grandparents, not to mention the chic mamas, teens, and hard-to-buy-for friends in between. The products are Canadian, unique, hand-crafted, high quality, and many of the small businesses are woman-owned. Now, that’s my niche!! And it’s a niche dear to the hearts of owners, the mom and daughter team of Natalie Lischka and Kiera Stevenson. Today, an interview with the chick behind Hen + Chick, Kiera

Below photo: Kiera, her daughter, and a doll in the sweetest Crafty M apron sets, available in store.

Me: Tell me the coles notes story of why and how Hen +Chick Studios came to be.

Kiera: We are both photographers and with this shared interest, decided to create a studio space. Our reception area displayed a selection of local and our own products in keeping with our creative direction of the business. Later, in a playful moment we realized we much preferred the gift store to the photo studio and decided to go with it!

Me: Canadian-made is on a lot of people's minds lately and you clearly believe in it so much, you've built a shop around the idea. I recently spent a whole blog post exploring this but I'm asking for your top reason: why do you think it's so important to buy Canadian?

Kiera: There’s just something special about supporting your neighbors. Yes there’s the advantage of economy, etc. but to know where you’re items are coming from and maybe even visited or lived there prior is really comforting and authentic.

Me: Any small business faces hurdles but a pandemic is a pretty big roadblock in having a storefront. How have you adapted and what has the response been from the community?

Kiera: There has been a notable increase to support local this past year and it is nothing short of heart warming. Moving and renovating ourselves while managing a (new) online store and local deliveries was one for the books, but the community really powered us to keep going.

Me: I love that I can go into your shop and find a perfect gift. Plus, I can go in not wanting a thing and find ten pieces to put on my wish list. What's your thought process in curating your shop and do you have a few vendors at the moment whose items are flying off the shelves? Or maybe one that's more unknown but a personal favorite?

Kiera: Well we are happy to hear it! Simply put, if we wouldn’t buy it ourselves it doesn’t come in. That includes everything from packaging, price point, and gift-ability. All of our businesses in house have really put in the time to create well rounded products and we work hard to ensure they’re getting noticed in the store.

They’re all our favourites - that’s why they’re here! (Haha)

Me: Your evolution over time has included a photo studio and more recently, a very large expansion. Are you happy where you are or is there something else you want to explore for Hen + Chick?

Kiera: It’s funny, I don’t think we’ve mentally or physically recovered from the whole pandemic/moving/renovating fiasco but we were just discussing the other day how we could expand again when/if the moment presents itself. On the product side of things, we never stop looking for new and exciting things. We spend hours hunting online and at craft shows. I don’t think you ever stop when you love what you do.

Thanks to Kiera for chatting with me, and to Hen + Chick Studios for highlighting so many incredible small, Canadian businesses and crafters. Go now or browse online to see why it’s one of my favourite shops in town.

xo