New puzzle collection at Dartmouth store highlights Nova Scotia landmarks

A small business in Dartmouth, N.S., has released a new line of puzzles that feature a variety of Nova Scotia landmarks.

Kimberly Dares opened The Trainyard in 2016 in a small shop on Portland Street.

The store donates five per cent of profits to community partners every year, including Out of the Cold and Hope for Wildlife.

Some of those profits are coming from a new spring collection of puzzles that feature familiar hotspots for Nova Scotians.

The collection includes landmark designs like the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse, geese at Sullivan’s Pond, a Cape Breton map, and the Halifax Public Gardens.

“They’re all local artists,” said Dares. “The majority of them, we work with in the shop, so we also carry their art prints or their greeting cards.”

The Trainyard works with about 150 Canadian makers at any given time, with the majority being from Nova Scotia.

“We do a lot of greeting cards, a lot of pottery, a lot of candles,” said Dares. “We also have some custom local socks -- we have Nova Scotia socks, donair socks, Dartmouth landmark socks.”

For Dares, it was an opportunity to create a business that’s rooted in being part of the community.

“The motivating factor for me was to build a community business and a community space that felt really welcoming for everyone,” said Dares.