Do you struggle to find just the right card for to match the occasion? If run-of-the-mill cards won’t cut it, then A Monkey Tree may be just the place for you. The store has garnered a reputation for carrying arguably one of the best and largest greeting card collections in Richmond.
Proprietor Odile Gagne spends countless hours reading greeting cards online and hand picking ones she thinks her clientele will love. There are the sentimental ones, the cheeky ones, the solemn ones and a few risqué ones that might just have you cracking a smile or two.Store manager Deborah McIntyre recounts the story of a retired couple from Coquitlam, who every January makes a pilgrimage to Steveston to buy their stash of greeting cards. Armed with a long list, the couple spends two to three hours choosing the perfect card for loved ones and friends — all the while ticking off names and the occasions as they go along!“They spend at least $300, sometimes more,” says Deborah, adding the store probably carries somewhere between 1,000 to 1,500 different cards. It’s easy to spend lots of time browsing in A Monkey Tree. The shop stocks a variety of products, including unique décor and gift ideas, bath items, candles, kitchen giftware, tableware … the list goes on.As an ode to the historic village, Odile also carries local artist Jodie Blaney’s Steveston Community Series, which comprises of 100 small original acrylic paintings, many of which are exclusive to A Monkey Tree.
