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Marching to her own drummer
Segments taken from London Free Press Article by Kyle Gedge
Meet London’s queen of kitsch. There’s probably no one
in the city whose personal taste is quite like that of Sue Glass.
Look in the window of her Talbot Street store, Commander Salamander,
and you’ll find a true shrine to kitsch – a toy store
just for grown-ups.
Kids shop here, too. But Glass makes it clear big kids are most welcome.
Case in point is a T-shirt that features a silhouette of the plastic
insert popped into 45 r.p.m. records to allow them to be played on
record players. Adults love it. Youngsters have no idea what it is.
Glass’s style is evident on the store’s shelves, bursting
with all manner of odd bric-a-brac – from superhero lunch boxes
to Hello Kitty cell phone holders. And then there’s luxury furniture
for cats. |
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“I wanted to elevate the idea of cat
toys,” says Glass of the store’s array of chaise lounges,
kitty tiaras and catnip-stuffed pillows aimed at the cultured feline.
“I have cats, so for me it’s just natural that my store
would sell cat furniture.”
Nest door, at Commander Salamander’s sister store, Frilly Lizard,
locally and internationally designed women’s fashions hand side
by side from racks on bright blue-green walls. A single display case
houses hand-made purses and bracelets. Soundtracks from films such
as Austin Powers and Reality Bites compete with Glass’s friendly
chatter for the ear’s attention.
The store has the décor and feel of some trendy teenage girl’s
bedroom, complete with a closet in the corner that says “Keep
out.”
“To me, it’s all about being different,”
says Glass of her stores. “It’s about being your own person
and not following the pack.”
Glass has been marching to her own drummer on the Talbot Block since
she first set up shop in 1994. |
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Nostalgia
popular with all ages
(taken from an article in the London Free Press by Laura Cudworth)
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When Sue Glass opens the door to her London shop, she cracks
open a door to the past. Commander Salamander is a nostalgic
shop filled with new, retro-style merchandise that recalls novelties
from the 1950’s through the ‘80’s.
“It’s supposed to be like a grown-up toy store.
People can come in at any age and feel like a kid,” she
said. Curious George clocks Betty Boop key rings, and Scooby
Doo lunch boxes take customers back to a simpler time.
“Everyone has an affinity for a specific time,”
she said. Some of the hottest nostalgia items are also the oldest.
Betty Paige pinup items from the 50s are in demand. Glass has
also noticed a new trend – customers craving throwbacks
to the past are getting younger.
“People are
getting nostalgic at a younger age. People in their late teens
and early 20s want Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake,”
she said.
When Glass was about 13, she went to a Toronto store that sold
interesting toys and decided he wanted to do that, too.
“I can’t think of the last time I said, ‘I
don’t want to go to work.’ It’s a lot of work
but when you’ve created it, it’s where you want
to be,” she said. |
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info@commandersalamander.ca
