The gift shop eases access to K-pop and anime merchandise for Hamilton fans
Sarah & Tom Gift Shop is a Korean pop merchandise store with many locations across Canada. The story of Sarah & Tom began in 2009 when the first store in Toronto opened. Sarah Milberry, one of the co-owners, explained the store had started as a place for Korean and Japanese stationery products which are often difficult to find in North American markets.
“We first opened in 2009 in Toronto. My husband’s Korean and I spent a year teaching English in Korea. The main draw or excitement that we wanted to bring to our business idea was Korean or Japanese stationary products,” said Milberry.
Interestingly, the shop did not always have K-pop merchandise, but as its base grew they noticed more customers seeking K-pop related items. When Milberry and her husband first introduced K-pop merchandise, they received positive reception and over the years, they collected a large stock of different K-pop albums and anime merchandise for customers.
“If they are a K-pop fan, [we have a] wide selection of K-pop albums . . . If you’re more on the anime side of things, we have a lot of figurines and posters related to a wide variety of different animations,” Milberry said.
“If they are a K-pop fan, [we have a] wide selection of K-pop albums . . . If you’re more on the anime side of things, we have a lot of figurines and posters related to a wide variety of different animations,”
Sarah Milberry, Co-Owner of Sarah & Tom Giftshop
In May 2022 they opened a location in Hamilton’s International Village area. They expanded to Hamilton because they noticed a large group of their customers were from here, including students from McMaster University. It was such a regular occurrence that it made them step back and consider opening a store.
“We really saw customers living outside of Toronto coming into our shop pre-COVID. [And] many customers said they came from Hamilton or that they go to McMaster,” Milberry said.
Milberry has loved the International Village’s engagement. She found they have a big social media presence which has featured Sarah & Tom Gift Shop as well. It’s helped with spreading the word of the Hamilton location and bringing in lots of customers. Milberry and her partner hope their business continues to prosper.
The Hamilton location has similar merchandise to the other of the Sarah & Tom Gift Shop locations in Toronto and Montreal. However, one difference that makes the Hamilton location stand out is that it has the greatest stock of K-pop albums across all locations. Milberry and her partner found it is very popular in Hamilton and they are doing their best to match their customer's interests. With artists like Black Pink with a large fanbase coming to Hamilton to perform, the store has noticed hikes in their sales during their concerts.
“We do have about 50% of the store set up just for K-pop in Hamilton and the other shops have a little bit less of that. In Hamilton, we are really pushing the K-pop products,” Milberry said.
“We do have about 50% of the store set up just for K-pop in Hamilton and the other shops have a little bit less of that. In Hamilton, we are really pushing the K-pop products,”
Sarah Milberry, Co-Owner of Sarah & Tom Giftshop
Ultimately, Sarah & Tom Gift Shop has been embraced by the Hamilton community, even before they opened a store here. As they continue to grow in Hamilton, they hope to see more McMaster University students here.
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This is an evolving story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
As McMaster lay awake in anticipation following the closing of the polls on Thursday, Jan. 28, it would have sounded absurd to suggest that the most newsworthy item would not be the identity of the winner of the 2016 MSU Presidentials. Yet the announcement on the MSU website released on Friday at 3:45 a.m. was a collection of both the stunning and the improbable.
Jonathon Tonietto, one of the more unorthodox candidates, finishes second.
Mike Gill, arguably one of the frontrunners in this year's race, finishes as an outside third.
The referendum on VP elections at-large fails to pass by a margin of 0.3 percent, or approximately 20 votes.
But by far, the most startling turn of events: the disqualification of Sarah Jama from the Presidential candidacy for what are described as "excessive campaign violations."
Did someone mention that Justin Monaco-Barnes is the new MSU President-Elect?
These unexpected results are perhaps a fitting end to one of the most tense and aggressive campaign periods in recent memory. Anonymous accusations of sexual and physical assault against a candidate surfaced on social media, which prompted both an official response by the Women and Gender Equity Network and a discussion on these accusations during the Student Representative Assembly meeting on Sunday, Jan. 25.
In many ways, these events had a significant impact on the tone of the election, and according to a Facebook post by Sarah Jama, these allegations played a role in Jama's disqualification.
Based on the adjudication from Elections Committee, Jama's campaign committed two severe violations outlined in section 7.9 of the 2016 MSU Presidential Rules. As explained by Chief Returning Officer Priya Gupta, a severe violation is anything that involves "something that might harm the integrity of the election." She also explained that any severe violation is required to involve a discussion on disqualification by Elections Committee.
The first involves an infraction of rule 7.9.1 for exceeding the spending limit of $450 as outlined in rule 6.1, and the second is an infraction of rule 7.9.5, involving the use of material that is considered to be in "bad taste," defined in rule 2.1 as that which "shall include but not be limited to material that is determined by the Returning Officers to be: sexist, racist, heterosexist, homophobic, pornographic, obscene, derogatory or prejudicial to any member of the McMaster community."
The recent Facebook post by Jama on her campaign page confirms that the alleged incident in violation of rule 7.9.5 "Bad Taste" was in part a retweet on Jama's Twitter account of a user that accused one of the candidates of sexual assault.
While many have speculated on the outcome of the election had Jama not been disqualified, the results of the ballots will remain confidential during the appeals period in order to preserve the integrity of decisions made by Elections Committee.
According to Jama, the volunteer responsible as well as another individual involved were removed from her team following the incident. While rule 7.4 states that "candidates are responsible for their campaign and representatives," it later states that "candidates are required to notify the Returning Officers immediately if they believe they could be unfairly penalised for another individual's actions.” In her post, Jama asserts that she removed the tweet within “ten minutes” and that she “talked to the [Chief Returning Officer] right afterwards to make sure [her] response was correct.”
Currently, Jama has announced her intent to appeal the disqualification; her post on her Facebook page has specifically contested the severe violation for exceeding the spending limit, denouncing the violation as untrue. According to Jama, the decision was based on a screenshot of a conversation that indicated she had paid $500 for her website, but Jama has declared she has evidence that proves otherwise.
While many have speculated on the outcome of the election had Jama not been disqualified, the results of the ballots will remain confidential during the appeals period in order to preserve the integrity of decisions made by Elections Committee.
"I cannot reveal that information, only I know that information; even EC doesn't know," said Gupta.
"The reason being is that we do not want to bias EC's decisions, especially since we are in an appeals period. I think knowing that information might bias the people on the committee to one way or another."
Gupta also explained that the minutes for Elections Committee's meeting will be publicly shared as soon as they can be made coherent and presentable by Administrative Assistant Victoria Scott, the transcriber.
"There are seven hours' worth of meeting minutes," explained Gupta. "I'm hoping and aiming for them to be released by Monday or Tuesday."
"I know students are a little agitated and upset that the meeting minutes have not come out, but I just ask them to be patient and to respect the time. It is a human process."
The appeals period will extend until Friday, Feb. 5 and all candidates will have the opportunity to voice any concerns. In the meantime, students will be left to speculate on the results of a remarkably contentious election.
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Yes, the name above is correct; and yes, that is the Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The actor may not actually be an author of this little book, but he is a contributor and overall founder of the company that created the book. The company, HitRECord.org, is an online production company created in 2005 by Levitt and his brother. It's a site where artists can submit their "hit records" (which actually means stuff like drawings, songs, or stories) and other members on the site can “remix” them. On HitRECord, remixing means collaboration: editing someone’s story, adding to a piece of art or making music for a short film. If any of the work becomes profitable, the money is shared with the original artist.
HitRECord has produced short films, songs, videos and stories. Tiny Stories is a collaboration of artwork and thought-provoking haiku-like stories, with the second volume being released in 2012 and a third on its way in 2013.
Tiny Stories was made by artists that needed stories and writers that needed pictures. wirrow, who came up with the original concept for the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, contributed his own stories and provided artwork.
The stories range from strange to poetic to sad to dark. One piece features a little girl wearing a cape and a caption that reads: "Tell no one about the cape." A poetic story with a couple holding hands says, "Once upon a dream in a blanket of night sky you asked me to tell you a story which began with us holding hands." Another story shows two identical people floating on balloons, both figures sleeping, while the caption reads: "Life and Death both took a break, weary from their burdensome rules. Nobody lived or died that day."
This book is filled with magic on every page and is the perfect book for any writer or as a source of inspiration. Some artists on HitRECord.org have recorded songs based on the stories in the book.
Once these stories latch themselves onto your brain, begging you to expand your mind, begging to inspire you, it’s hard to let this little book go. I keep it by my bedside so that when I need it I can open to a random page and ponder over the words and pictures on the page.
The book begins with this quote, edited by wirrow and originally by Muriel Rukeyser: "The universe is not made of atoms; it's made of [tiny] stories."
Never has a quote been more true for such a perfect book.
The name of the book instantly sparks conversation, people are eager to discuss whether or not they’ve read it, what they know about it, and what they think about it. And because it’s so enormously popular, it’s inevitable that there will be those who won’t like it. But whether you adore the book or you despise it, I’ll argue that there are some positives to the story. I’m certain that some people will be mildly revolted, throwing down and crumpling their papers. But if you’re even slightly curious about what these positives might be, then read on.
Here's a brief summary for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last six months:
Grad-student Ana Steele meets billionaire Christian Grey when she goes to interview him for her school paper. Both characters are immediately attracted to one another and begin a relationship. In order for the relationship to work, Ana will have to conform to Christian's erotic tastes.
My friend and I decided to read the book, both of us curious to see if a book with so strange a plot that inspired so much hatred was any good at all. It was my friend who opened my eyes to the more positive sides to the story.
1) Ana learns to step outside of her comfort zone and become assertive.
Ana is an extremely quiet girl and spends most of her time studying and seems to have little to no interest in boys. When she meets Christian Grey, she steps way out of her comfort zone, allowing herself to relax about her studies and explore this relationship (though it’s very different from the usual “first love”). She also learns to be assertive, telling Christian that she is not comfortable with certain things he wants to do.
2) Ana learns the importance of taking risks.
The risk I'm talking about is falling in love. You may scoff and roll your eyes at this, but love is one of the greatest risks. Because even if you love someone there will always doubt: doubt that you aren't good enough or that your partner will find someone better. Allowing yourself to fall in love will always imply the risk of being hurt. For Ana, this is a huge risk as she had never been in a relationship before and doesn’t have examples of steady love in her life (her mother was married three times).
3) Ana becomes more comfortable with her physical appearance.
Every moment of every day we are told to look a certain way. We are constantly obsessing over our hair, our makeup, our weight and our skin. It's extremely difficult to be comfortable with our body image, especially with the forever-present fear of being rejected. Ana learns to be comfortable with her appearance and accept that she isn't going to change for anyone. She comes to love herself, which is something few people can say.
It’s important that readers remember is that there are positives and negatives in every novel. When we love a book we see it as perfect and flawless, we sometimes place it on an altar to be worshiped. When we hate a book we want to throw it into the fiery pits of hell and watch it burn with delight. Perhaps we all need to open up our eyes a little more and stop seeing everything as either black or white - perhaps we should focus on the grey.
Sarah O'Connor
