Accessibility
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Our staff tend to be Covid-cautious individuals. We always wear masks when serving customers, wipe down counters, and keep windows open in summer for airflow. If you would like an private appointment, we can sometimes arrange that for Friday or Saturday mornings – please email!
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Our owners and staff all have minimal ASL skills – meaning we can say hi and our names and will stumble over the rest. We usually use screen typing to communicate during fittings or intakes, and are happy to work with ASL interpreters. For individual events, ASL interpreters will be noted on the event page.
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We are happy to provide extra, free customer service to people with sight impairments. This could include describing each material in colour & providing samples to touch. Let us know what works best for you!
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Our workshop is not scent-free nor dust-free. Leather and glue both smell like leather and glue! All our products and staff (hand soap, hand sanitizer) are scent-free. On our lower floor (closed to the public) lives leather dust from sanding. Please wear a mask if cobbling shops trigger reactions for you.
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Our pricing covers our base costs (space, intake systems, machinery upkeep, etc) and provides a living wage to our employees. We ask for full pre-payment of all items, however can provide payment plans upon request. Taxes are additional to our rates. Everything we do is subject to 5% GST. Our brand new items, leather, and hardware are subject to 7% PST. For information on our accounting, or to provide your PST number for an exception please contact us directly.
While we can’t change the overhead of our business and simply cannot work for free, we do recognize leather can be expensive. Talk to us about payment plans or low-income discounts. We do not accept trades on any of our work – they unfortunately don’t pay our bills!
Accessibility matters to us! We’ve taken steps to improve the accessibility of our studio for staff and clients. If you have a disability, either visible or invisible, and have a difficult time reaching us, please let us know & we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
Physical Accessibility Information
Our Entrance:
From street level, our building’s pathway has a 6″ sidewalk curb and a slight incline. We have a movable ramp to help navigate this step, which we bring out when needed. We have a loading zone right outside our doors, which can be parked in for 30 minutes for those with a SPARC placard.
Our building’s front double doors and our studio’s front double doors both lack automated opening and are heavy. We’re happy to hold them open for you. A single open door is 32.5″ wide, both doors open are 56″ wide.
Our Front Client Area:
Our upper floor is mostly accessible to people using mobility aids; all consultations and fittings are done here. Our front counter is 40″ high. We can use our front sitting bench as an alternate front counter. We have a full-length, 23″ wide mirror – good for people of all shapes and sizes, standing or sitting. Our main entrance is tiled. It has a 2″ slanted lip through a 39.5″ wide ‘doorway’ that leads to our change room, upper floor, and washroom. The upper floor is old wood with some gaps.
Our Fitting Room:
Our fitting room measures 43″ wide by 48.5″ depth with a pull-close cloth curtain in a 35″ wide doorway. The seat in the change room is 23.25″ high, 18.5″ deep.
Our Bathroom:
Our restroom is on the upper floor and can be used as a more spacious change room for people with mobility aids. The bathroom door is 34″ wide with a 0.5″ lip onto the tile. The utility sink is 33.25″ high and 21″ deep (length across to the faucet). There is a large grab bar next to the toilet.
Our Staff-Only Areas:
Our staff room, working areas, lower floor and back lot are all closed to the public. There are two small stairs to our lower floor. The back lot features a loading bay or 5 steps. We have installed various workplace accomodations for staff including anti-fatigue matts, height-considereate work stations, knee-powered levers for sewing machines, and more.
