Marche Arterie Prunella

Rebecca Emlaw says she and Danette MacKay were accidental partners. Arterie Boutique & Friperie started off in the early 2000s as a co-op shared by 20 or so designers. “We would all do volunteer hours and get paid for whatever we sold,” recalls Rebecca. “It was pretty chaotic.” Eventually, a process of elimination ensued. “It whittled down to us two owners who could actually survive on running a store,” she says. “Luckily, we get along really well.”

The chaos settled and Arterie became one of Bernard Street’s most vibrant businesses. It is a veritable treasure trove of clothing and accessories thoughtfully handcrafted by several local designers. “It’s constantly rotating,” says Rebecca. “We get new designers, other designers leave and come back. It’s really evolving.”

Customers feeling a more vintage vibe can head to the friperie in the back of the shop and check out the secondhand goods carefully picked out by Rebecca and Danette themselves, usually during trips off the island. “I go to Ontario a lot where my family is from,” says Rebecca. “The town I’m from is a gold mine.”