“We
are located just 4 km south of Highway Carell Wingrave & 1 6 i n t h e h i s to r i c Kristine Olson and picturesque h a mlet of Car vel, A l b e r ta. E s tablish ed i n 1918, th e Car vel G e ne ral S to r e is a 103 y ea r old bu ild ing t ha t h as b e e n lov in gl y restored to ret ain its vintage charm and heritage. In October 2003 my mother and I found ourselves f e e l i n g s c a r e d , e xc i t e d , a n d n a i v e . W e were also secretly bold and persistent i n our belief of certain success. We had just reopened/re-purposed an old landmark general store in the tiny Hamlet of Carvel, Alberta where we both live. Except for a 12 week online business course, neither of us had any prior business experience - I was a psychiatric nurse and mom was a retired supervisor with the federal government. Our retail experience consisted of being discriminating shoppers, both of us 35
Car vel General Store
conservatively frivolous with a taste for the finer things in life. Inundated with "neighbourly interest", questioning the sanity of our decision by family and friends, and an initial financial sacrifice, we pushed forward. Turns out we had all the right ingredients to turn o u r P E I- e s q u e ( c e d a r s h a k e r o o f e d p o r c h on a green and white building) meets W hy t e Av e ( O l d S t ra t h c o n a , E d m o n t o n ) into a vintage specialty shop. We became partners in the Carvel General Store in July 2003 and have since become a destination in several
