Art Source an iconic place on Pearl Street Mall’s ‘map’

BOULDER — After 45 years in business, Art Source International remains one of the largest map dealers worldwide, while also being a tourist stop right on Pearl Street Mall.

“We have the same place we’ve always had, but it adapts to what people are buying,” said George Karakehian, owner of Art Source, which offers a staple of high-end antique maps, atlases and prints, plus sells historic and reproduction maps and globes in its store and online. “We never quit selling maps, but now we added less expensive items, so that whoever walks in, there’s something for them to buy.”

Part of Karakehian’s success comes from “adapting and changing from his original plan,” said Katie Olson, Karakehian’s daughter and manager of the store, who will take over the store upon his retirement.

“George really has been extremely adaptable and has changed the business over time and has been really innovative, adding new products and following new art and business trends,” Olson said.

Karakehian, a life insurance broker by trade, started Art Source in 1979 as a side business after dabbling in buying and selling antique maps. He’d purchased his first map in 1973 from a shop in Boulder, over the years expanding to an inventory of 40,000 to 50,000 maps at any given time. 

Originally, Karakehian operated his store at 1655 Walnut St. in Boulder, but decided 10 years later to buy a 2,500-square-foot building at 1237 Pearl St. in the historic Pearl Street Mall, the previous home of a gallery. 

“We were very lucky years ago to be able to buy the building,” Karakehian said, adding that if he’d rented, he’d probably be in a different location by now. “By owning the building, then we were able to be consistent here.”

In the mid-1990s, Karakehian opened a second retail location in Aspen, which he later closed, but then with some foresight, he created an e-commerce website in 2001 at the beginning of online retail sites. Scanning and digitizing his inventory of maps and prints to sell online allowed him to reach a worldwide audience, especially helpful when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.

“We did just fine because we had been around as long as we had. We decided to keep all our employees and paid them,” said Karakehian, who generally works with a staff of 12 to 14. “We bit the bullet and kept everyone employed, but it sure was hard.”

Another hit to the business was from a post-pandemic shift to remote work, resulting in fewer office staff taking breaks to go shopping or stopping at places like Art Source for their lunchtime errands.

“It affected restaurants far more than us,” Karakehian said. “With people not returning to work, it’s damaging all retail. We need people to go back to their jobs, not be remote.”

Luckily in early 2019, Karakehian started carrying puzzles, which became a big hit in 2020 when stay-at-home orders resulted in new pastimes and the hottest gift item in the country. At that time, he offered 200 different puzzle titles, selling thousands online and out of his store, even making deliveries—now, there are about 500 puzzle titles.

“Amazon and other retailers didn’t have inventory many times,” Karakehian said. “To this day, we have the largest selection of puzzles in the state. That’s a big change from 300-year-old maps to $25 puzzles. Because of that, we survived.”

Initially, Karakehian didn’t have much competition when he moved part of his business online. But over time, more and more antique map and print dealers opened up e-commerce businesses and brick-and-mortar retail shops started closing, leaving maybe one to two dealers in the big cities, he said. Some of the dealers going into the online map business also offered their products at a lower price point, but Karakehian can offer something they couldn’t: a walk-in experience.

“What keeps this business going is the ability to walk in and ask questions. … You can’t do that on the internet,” Karakehian said. “That face-to-face is still pretty important. Customers want to ask questions about a map, not only to buy it but to be educated about why a particular map would be a good map for them.”

Karakehian saw his online business grow over the years until about 2015 to 2016, when it slowed for an undefined reason, followed by a temporary rise during the pandemic. The retail side of the business also increased significantly in 2022 and 2023 from a pent-up demand post-pandemic and growth in the city, he said. 

“We still sell our share of puzzles. We still sell our share of wonderful maps that continue to be a big part of our business of antique maps and prints,” Karakehian said.

Several years ago, Karakehian purchased a high-end, 44-inch inkjet printer to be able to make prints for his customers. He appealed to students who go to the University of Boulder, as well as commercial and other customers who used to be able to go into a mall and shop at a poster shop, a business that has primarily shifted online, he said.

“A printer, we thought, allows us to sell things people want rather than selling things we want people to buy,” Karakehian said. “The breadth of our inventory is pretty substantial. We are trying to offer things people want.”

Customers frequently walk in with their own art they want to frame, and longtime Art Source employee Pat Toye, who serves as head framer, is just the man for the job.

“Part of our success over the years is having a custom frame shop and extra high-quality framing and designs,” Olson said. “We’re known for preservation framing, taking care of old antique things.” 

Art Source also carries an inventory of Colorado and Boulder photos, illustrations and prints, with a wide selection of historic photographs of Colorado and other cartographic material.

Terri Takata-Smith, vice-president of marketing and communications for the Downtown Boulder Partnership, likes to explore all of the historic images, vintage prints and antique maps at Art Source, with one of her favorite prints called Boulder, California, a “what if” scenario of the Flatirons along the California coastline.

“Art Source is a retail destination shop. It’s the perfect place for out-of-town visitors to pick up a postcard or other print commemorating their visit,” Takata-Smith said. “Whenever someone moves on from our team, they are always given a framed image of our building as a keepsake. This historic memento is meant as a reminder of our commitment to preserving the past and also serves as a reminder of how far we’ve come.”

Takata-Smith recommends the store because of its owners and finds that a family-run business celebrating 45 years to be impressive. 

“Over the years, George has made it his mission to contribute back to the local community,” Takata-Smith said. “He’s a staunch advocate of the business community and of downtown Boulder. His commitment to people and organizations across the city has solidified his position as the ‘Godfather’ of downtown Boulder.”

Art Source is “one of those stores you can get lost in,” said Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayer, who calls Karakehian the “mayor of Pearl Street.”

“There’s so many fun gizmos, games and just gift-type items. I’m also a history nut and have a fascination with old maps,” Tayer said. “For residents, it’s an opportunity to tie to the rich history of Boulder and to also find stuff that fits attractively in their homes and offices. For visitors, when you come to Boulder and you’re taken by the surrounding environment and beauty, you want to take a little bit of that home with you.”

Just like Takata-Smith and Tayer, most anybody who walks into the store will find something to love, Olson said.

“Almost every day I overhear somebody saying this is the coolest shop I’ve ever been in,” Olson said. “It’s colorful. It’s amazing art. … Every single person who walks in here will find something they love. We’re an extremely unique shop.”

As for Karakehian’s future plans, he said they are to have Olson lead the store.

“My future plans are for Katie to have future plans,” Karakehian said, adding that for now, “we are going to do more of the same.”

Karakehian and Olson review at the end of each year the bottom 10% of what didn’t sell and replace those items with something new, he said. 

“There’s no doubt the formula is working, and Katie will continue to do those kinds of things,” Karakehian said. “Those 45 years added up to lots of customers.” 

on Facebook on LinkedIn