Dartmouth Boutique ‘Kept’ Sold To Local Entrepreneur
HALIFAX—An iconic Downtown Dartmouth shop is under new ownership. Charlotte Jewer has sold her gift shop and boutique, Kept, to local business owner Stefanie MacDonald.
MacDonald owns Halifax-based Paper Hearts. She took over Kept two weeks ago but she and Jewer officially announced the sale Wednesday.
Paper Hearts is a stationery shop and design studio best known for its whimsical greeting cards. MacDonald started the business as a side hustle while she was working for a large real estate firm.
Eventually, she grew from selling greeting cards at a farmer’s market to a nine-person team that designs, creates, and ships products to hundreds of boutiques across Canada.
In an email, MacDonald told Huddle she first thought about buying Kept when Jewer put it up for sale earlier this year.
“After reviewing the numbers and the information memorandum, I knew that it was a wonderful opportunity, and a great fit for our next chapter,” she said.
She already had a relationship with Jewer: Kept has carried Paper Hearts’ products for years and was the one of the first retail shop to sell her products.
“We have always loved the store, and have admired Charlotte and the Kept brand since she started it 8 years ago,” Macdonald said.
In a Nov. 17 Instagram Post, Jewer said selling Kept was “bittersweet.”
“If there is one thing I have learned in my last eight years in business and in life, it is that change is inevitable and must be embraced. For me, that has meant changing my focus to my young family and letting my business go,” she wrote.
She thanked her customers for their support and said she was excited to see MacDonald take over.
“We couldn’t [have] found a better fit for Kept’s next chapter!! Stefanie is an entrepreneurial powerhouse who has the drive and experience to take Kept to a whole new level,” Jewer wrote.
MacDonald called Jewer “a pillar in the revitalization of Downtown Dartmouth.”
“We are so proud of her resilience, courage, and strength in navigating life with a young family while weathering a global pandemic in retail. We consider ourselves to be stewards of her precious brand and vision and we are committed to preserving the specialness that can only be found at Kept,” she said.
MacDonald said Jewer has been training her for the past month to take over the shop and will stay on as a consultant to help with buying, merchandising, and branding.
Since wholesaling is Paper Hearts’ primary business, MacDonald said Kept will be a great way to test out new products and ideas.
“We love that with Kept, we get to test out new products and ideas in real-time in a boutique setting,” she told Huddle.
She said she hopes to hire two more people to work at Kept, to compliment the two who already work at the shop.
Meanwhile, Jewer is teasing what her next steps could be.
“As for me… I have been scratching a creative itch and hope to have more to share before long!! Ever upward!” she wrote.
Trevor Nichols is the Associate Editor of Huddle based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].