A digitally native, customizable die-cut sticker company has made the leap to brick-and-mortar, opening a colorful, larger-than-life sticker nirvana in Toronto.
The StickerYou is full of Instagrammable-worthy moments, starting with the storefront, which features a three-story-high, sticker-bombed lightning bolt. A similar motif plays out on the interior, whose design navigates the space between childhood fun and modern sticker art, appealing to sticker enthusiasts of all ages. Nearly every surface, including the ceiling, is adorned with colorful stickers. The walls are lined with drawings reminiscent of being doodled into a notebook.
The walls further back in the 3,000-sq.-ft. store are covered in a grid of ready-to-buy sticker designs organized by category, from pop art and travel to tech and trending stickers. An opposite wall displays stickers designed by StickerYou’s collaborating artists, some pre-made patches and temporary tattoos for purchase. An island in the middle of store displays various sticker-bombed objects, such as a guitar.
Several of the store’s attractions are scheduled to open in late October, including a customer experience center where customers can check out the hundreds of custom design options, create their own design using the company’s online sticker maker and place personalized orders. Also coming in late October is a museum that details the history of stickers, with rotating exhibitions and events.
Launched in 2010, StickerYou's platform lets users create their own 8.5" x 10.5" sheets of removable vinyl stickers, combining uploaded personal images and art from StickerYou's library of thousands of images. The stickers are cut along the outline of the image, and are not limited to a standard square, circle or a particular size.
As to why StickerYou decided to open a physical store, the company said there were a few reasons.
“Our products, stickers, patches, decals, and so on, are the kinds of products that are best appreciated in an in-person sensory experience,” the Toronto-based company stated in a posting on its website. “A retail store allows customers to interact with our products in a way that cannot be replicated online. We recognize the importance of giving customers the opportunity to actually touch and feel our products so they can judge for themselves the quality of our materials and what the adhesives are like.”
Visiting the store also allows customers to see StickerYou products being used in different ways, according to the company.
“By creating an inviting and interesting store environment, we can make visiting the store as exciting of an experience as receiving new custom products,” StickerYou stated. “Our sticker-bombed wall is perfect for customers to snap selfies to share with friend.”