There is something special and wonderful about Prince Edward Island. The rolling fields, the smell of the ocean on the air, and the warmth of our people are all part of what makes PEI unique. This idyllic setting and our close-knit Island communities have also spawned a wealth of other creations, both man-made and natural. bestofpei was created to help share these creations with other Islanders and with the world.

While the roots of bestofpei lie even earlier, the first major step in creating today’s bestofpei was the opening of the bestofpei Store on Victoria Row in 2005. We didn’t just want another store, we wanted to become a place where Island artists and artisans would come to share more about their creations with their audience - whether through live music performances, book readings, craft demonstrations, children’s shows, or other events. While we’ve always believed in Island products and people, even we were taken aback by the tremendous response we got from visitors and locals alike. But this just convinced us that there was more to be done.

The bestofpei Market was the next step in fulfilling our vision. Using careful architectural design to reflect the gentleness and comfort of the Island, and through many months of creating relationships with Island suppliers of every type of goods imaginable, we opened the bestofpei Market in Spring 2008. Again, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Now that we had an even larger venue, we wanted to bring more Island culture into the bestofpei fold. We knew we wanted indoor and outdoor seating where people could enjoy a healthy Island meal along with the occasional live entertainment. We also made sure we could serve Island beers, wines, and liquors, while still maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere - basically, we wanted to transform the routine but necessary shopping expedition into an opportunity for the whole family to leisurely enjoy the experience.

Finally, with the Store and Market both running smoothly, we wanted to turn our attention to how we could maintain this wonderful community outside of these locations. And that’s where our new website comes in. We’ve tried to create an online destination that both serves the core informational needs of our customers (hours, Deli menu, events, etc.) while also providing a way for our customers to give us their feedback, connect with other members of the bestofpei community, keep up-to-date on specials, and lots more.

So we’ll be publishing stories about our events on the site (and on our Events calendar) and would love to hear your comments. We’ll also be using Twitter to announce our specials and events (and you can see that feed on our site in the lower right hand corner). And we’ve still got our trusty Newsletter running if you’d prefer to get info by email. Finally, we’re always interested in hearing what our customers have to say - what could we be doing better? are there great Island products we’re not carrying? what kind of events would you like to see? - we’d love to hear about all these things and more, so just hop on over to our Contact page and let us know what you think.

Thanks for making this dream possible and thanks for supporting Prince Edward Island.

Bev MacArthur
bestofpei Owner