Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Rory Gale, owner of Hartford Prince. Good morning,
good morning. For people who don't know about Hartford Prince.
This is just the coolest gift store in Connecticut. It
really is the best giftsure. How did it come about? So?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm born and raised in Hartford.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
The love for this city, you know, runs through my veins,
and I wanted a way for people to show pride
for Hertford and for Connecticut. Growing up here, you know,
there wasn't much you could have a whalers or a
Yukon shirt. But we wanted to be able to have
stickers and magnets and keychains and tope bags, and so
(00:42):
we started making some Connecticut products in twenty twelve and
then officially open the store in twenty thirteen. So we
have been here in downtown Hartford on Pratt Street for
twelve years.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Forty second and a half Pratt.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes, yes, so you don't forget the half.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I love that it reminds me of like Harry Potter exactly. Yeah,
you know, forty second and a half Pratt Street. It's
Hartford Prince. It is the coolest gift store in Connecticut.
Like I said, so would you like to talk about
some of the products that you have? I mean, we
could go on for hours though.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So we are so lucky because after twelve years, we
just did a major renovation. So we spent the last
six months completely gutting the store and tripling the size
of the footprint of the store because of how much
demand there was for our little gift store. And now
we're a big gift store, a destination somewhere where you
(01:41):
take your whole family when they come into town to visit.
We have a kiask at Bradley Airport. So we've really
been growing, you know, through our products, through our customers,
through the support of you know, everyone in Hartford and Connecticut.
And feel so lucky to be at this moment for
a small business who not only survived. Just like when
(02:03):
we first opened on Pratt Street, you know, we sold
stationery and T shirts and just like a couple of things,
not a ton of stuff, and people would walk into
the store and they would kind of be like, I
don't know, like, are you guys.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Gonna make it?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And now we've not only proven that we are so
successful and there's a huge demand for it, but we've
grown and like how exciting that is for small business,
for Hartford, for Connecticut, like putting our stamp on the map.
And so in terms of product, we sell a little
(02:40):
bit of everything, which is like great because that means
no matter.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Who you are.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
You know, if you're a mom or a kid, or
a college student, or you know you need a card
for Mother's Day or an anniversary or Valentine's Day, Harderd
princes your destination for pretty much anything. Mostly when you
just need like a pick me up, you can come
(03:06):
in and find something that inspires you, makes you feel good,
something that you can take home and like treat yourself.
And so the holiday season is our big season because
we just love gifting, love unique gifts and helping people find,
you know, all the things that they need for the
(03:27):
holiday season.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well that's what I was gonna say. These are unique gifts.
You can't find these cards anywhere else, these magnet, the accessories,
and the kitchen, I mean some of them are like
PG rated. Yeah, you know what a blast. You could
go in there if you need a good laugh, just
walk in there and start reading all the oven midg.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, and the fox.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yes, it's the best when like a kid who just
learned to read, so like six or seven starts reading
all the socks and they're.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Like, oh, oh my god, did you see what's on there?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
You mentioned how you got here? What do you attribute
that to your ability to grow?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It must be just in my DNA because my my
parents are entrepreneurs and so I've always like felt this
like really strong drive, so perseverance, commitment, really the love
for Hartford because I wouldn't be doing this if I
(04:24):
didn't like love doing it. Because it's a lot of work, NonStop,
you know, seven days a week.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, just really special.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And all of the items, as we said earlier, are unique.
Let's just talk about the apparel. Yeah, okay, you mentioned
the Whalers.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah, our Whalers merchandise is are best selling stuff. So
the team hasn't been here since you know, nineteen ninety eight,
but we sell so much Whaler's gear. So we have
four different styles of T shirts, hats, and stickers and
keychain so everything Whalers. We have a full line of
(05:04):
Connecticut shirts, Hartford shirts, and recently we've been adding in
a lot of Gilmore Girls products because Gilmore Girls it
has become a almost like a tourist Connecticut is a
tourist destination for all the fans of the Gilmore Girls.
They come and they travel to Connecticut in the fall
(05:26):
not only for like the leaf peeping, but to sort
of capture the essence of Stars Hollow. So in October,
the first Saturday of October, Pratt Street hosts an annual
event which is so fun, So everybody mark your calendars
for next year because it's our biggest event of the
whole season, of the whole year, and it's called Stars
(05:47):
Hollow Saturday, and Pratt Street transforms into Stars Hollow. My
name is Rory, so it really helps. That's right, It's
so fun now the idea. And then Pratt Street is pedestrian,
so we have events all year round. I'm sure you've
heard of, like the Salsa Nights. We have music, we
(06:10):
do night markets, and then for the holiday season we
have vendor markets. So we are hosting Pratt Street Winter Village,
which runs six dates Thanksgiving through Christmas. So that'll be
a good time because not only can you come shopping
out hard Ford Prince, but you can shop at twenty
five different small businesses up and down the street.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
And could they go to Hartford Prince dot com to
find out more about that as well.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yes, harfordprints dot com for all your shopping, and then
follow us on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
You mentioned holiday shopping. What is Small Business Saturday?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So it is like our super Bowl. It's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
The holiday originally started by AMX, but it's to come
back at Black Friday.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So the whole idea.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Of Black Friday was big box stores and you know
the lines on Thanksgiving taking away time like from your
family and shopping like at these mega corporations that don't
need your money. So thinking about how you want to
support your community. Where do you want your dollars to
go to go? Who do you want to see in business?
(07:26):
You know, twelve years later and making the effort. It's
the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so you've you've done all your
family time, you've done all your turkey.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
You need to get out of the house.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And so Small Business Saturday is a holiday and it's
showing up for your community. It's starting your Christmas shopping early,
checking things off of your list, and having fun while
doing it. So we're going to have you know, live music.
We usually do ice sculpting, Santa, all the fun festive things,
(07:58):
and then downtown is incredible during the holiday season.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So right around the corner from.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Here you have the Glow Light Show, there's free ice
skating and Bushnell Park.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
All of the theaters have.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Amazing holiday offerings, and so you you could just spend
the whole day in downtown and celebrating the season.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Absolutely. When it comes to holiday shopping, what should people
look for when they walk into your store this year?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Ooh?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Our ornament selection is always amazing. So usually you're you're like, Okay,
I need a very specific thing for somebody who is
obsessed with pickleball, and all of a sudden, you find
the perfect ornament right now. You know, book talk and
people who love reading is really big, so we're you know,
we're up on the trends. I feel like we're gonna
(08:49):
be selling a lot of wicked stuff this season, with
like the New the Second movie coming out. Last year,
it was all like Taylor Swift, so lots of good
trending gifts, unique stuff something that like is I can't
believe I found this.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
This is perfect.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
This is exactly what I want for my aunt, my sister,
my you know, my partner.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I could not have said that better. That is exactly
what it is. It's things that you will never find
anywhere else. You walk in and you just go, yeah,
like I didn't think I would find this. This is perfect.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I love those reactions. It's so fun to be able
to do that and like see people in real time.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And so that means you have an eye for it.
What is it about you that you're like, I know
what to put in this gift shop that maybe other
gift shops don't.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I mean, you know how, there's like the five love languages.
My love language is gifting and so I just like
I love design, I love packaging.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I like to know.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I feel like I can tell, like what's going to
do off the shelf, and lots of research trying to
find stuff that's made in the US. A lot of
women own businesses. Things that like speak to me and
then speak to everyone else.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, it is it's a gift that you have. Wow,
that's amazing. What is the mini print machine? Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
This is so cool.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
So we just got one in the store and it's
like a throwback. It takes you back to when you
were a kid and you'd get twenty five cents to
like put money in a in a in a little
machine and get you know, a gumball or a prize.
And so at Hartford Prince we were working with an artist,
Bridgid Carrie, who has.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Sat up this machine.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
It has four unique Hartford prints and if you have
four quarters, but we can also charge you with a
credit card and give you the quarters. You put in
the four quarter, you push in the machine and out
pops a print and it's like such a whimsical, childlike
(11:07):
experience and it's so so then it's a mystery print.
So when you open it up, you find out which
of the four you get, and for a dollar, it's
like worth the experience. Around the country they have this
has been taking off so like in Grand Central Station
there's a mini print machine and it'll be like a
line to get the prints. So you can come just
(11:30):
right here in Hartford and do the same experience.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Why is it so important to support local business?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Local businesses support our local economy. The money, the dollars
that you put into a small business, I think it
comes back like three times. So it's like making sure
that the places that you love are gonna be here
for a long time, and it is kind of like
(11:58):
how we talked about with small Business Saturday. It's an
extra effort. The easy option is to shop online. The
easy option is, you know, maybe to go to a
big box store. But the the option that's gonna make
sure that your community is healthy, thriving, exciting, unique is
(12:27):
taking the extra step reminding yourself to shop local, going.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Out of your way.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
You know, we all know that getting into downtown isn't
always the easiest. But if you're you know, if you're
taking that extra effort, if you're making sure that you know,
on the weekends when street parking is free, you're coming
into shop at Her for Prince, that adds up and
that's how you know we've been able to be successful.
(12:55):
All of the other businesses on Pratt Street are thriving,
and we're to continue to build downtown because when I
was a kid, I would go to the Civic Center
and shop my heart out, and that's what I want
downtown to be a place where you can chop your
heart out.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Well, if you don't go, you're going to miss out
on gifts like this. I had to write this down.
She has another admit that says, no, I will never
want your help. That's me in the kitchen. I will
never want your help. Go clean the bathroom, go outside,
do whatever, but leave me alone. And this book I
almost peed my pants because I'm Italian. Your pasta sucks,
(13:32):
but doesn't have to. And those are the kind of fun,
great gifts that you have.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I'm speaking with Rory Gale, owner of Hartford Prince right
there at forty two and a half Pratt Street in
downtown Hartford. There are stickers, patches, art prints, magnets, cards, candles, accessories,
you name it, and more. As we talked about. Definitely
go to hartfordprints dot com. You can order things there
as well and see everything on there. What a great website. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
By the way, yeah, you can order for pickup, but
we'll ship it to you.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Some people pre shop so they know everything that's on
the website is in the store.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
But get your butt down to Pratched right, Yeah, and
go see everybody and take advantage of all these amazing
holiday events that are coming.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah, we know that when you walk into the store,
you're gonna say, oh my god, this is the cutest store.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And that's like our goal.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And you're doing it. Thank you, thank you so much
for being here today, thank you for having me