Business Name: Jenkins Printing and Engraving
Description of the Business: Jenkins Printing and Engraving is a small two-storey building of red brick with neat flower boxes arrayed around the front door and on the upstairs window sills. A large window on the ground floor has the name of the business carefully painted on the inside of the glass in gold and outlined in black. The ground floor houses the shop and its related work spaces while upstairs houses residential space.
Upon entering, a bell chimes softly to announce the arrival of a customer. To the right is the window with the shop's name painted on it. A chaise lounge sits with its back against the glass and there are two other comfortable chairs pressed into the space around a low table with a orderly collection of papers, which include a number of pamphlets and specimen sheets of different fonts. To the left is a polished wood counter with a neat display case containing pretty cards, writing materials and pens, and a discreet card glued to the corner of one glass pane that promises more items of this kind available upon request. The counter also holds another bell, perhaps in case the door's soft one fails to grasp attention. A doorway behind the counter connects to the workshop proper and it is usually possibly to catch a glimpse of cabinets and one side of a large printing press, which can often be heard in operation.
It is typical to be greeted by the sight of Dora Twitchell behind the counter rather than the eponymous Jenkins, although the man himself or a human teenager will sometimes see to a customer's needs. In the case of a need for discretion, it is possible to be led through the doorway behind the counter and up the stairs out of sight on the other side to a small sitting room that appears to have decorated in a style that might have been fashionable half a century ago by a lady with a penchant for doilies and various dust catching porcelain knick-knacks.
Location: Muffey, Anaxas
Services Offered: Jenkins Printing and Engraving provides printing services to a number of businesses within Muffey in the form of promotional leaflets and customised stationery. It also provides printing services for those who want printed copies of short matter such as visiting/calling cards, leaflets, pamphlets and short newsletters. Simple to moderate level engravings can also be provided although these are often custom designs and can be more costly, usually out of the reach of those under the Average wealth tier. Stationery and stamps can also be purchased here with letter-writing particularly in mind. For those who lack the literacy, the shop offers services to write and read letters.
Services Cost: Poor to Wealthy
NPCs:
- Adorabelle "Dora" Twitchell: A galdor woman in her mid-20s, Dora is effectively the shop's manager, not only handling day-to-day matters and administration but also the one who keeps the place tidy and pleasing presented. Even when PJ is present, she is the one who predominantly deals with customers given that she is far more personable and good-mannered than the proprietor. Standing at just 5 feet tall and with a round, wildly freckled face, Dora is often viewed as 'cute', an image that she doesn't attempt to dispel. Her shoulder-length flaming red hair and spray of freckles mark the young woman as Anaxi to the core and she was born and bred in Muffey, thereby well-known by its permanent residents. Dora has a sunny disposition, a level of energy that almost borders on nervous, and bright, intelligent green eyes that can hold a shocking amount of fire when her temper is coaxed out. Dora is the shop's typographer and engraver, having designed a number of the fonts herself and can manage some typesetting and printing when the need arises. She has permission to live above the shop, something that causes a certain amount of scandalous rumour about her, despite the fact that PJ frequently isn't there. People also like to talk about her proclivities for more masculine clothing (trousers, really!) and the fact that she sees no issue in bicycling around the place, not that any of them would say it directly to her smiling face.
. - Davy Shaw: A human in his late teens, to anybody who asks, the boy predominantly deals with odds and ends about the shop, including seeing to the maintenance of the presses and tending to the flowers carefully cultivated by Miss Dora. Of course, anyone who pays attention to him might begin to worry that he spends an awful lot of time around the written word and perhaps that isn't good for a human boy. For most, it is probably better for them not to think about it too hard but no doubt a number of galdori would be horrified to discover that it is this teenager who does most of the typesetting and has even worked at casting the type itself. Davy is an infrequent sight but he's difficult to miss standing at 5' 11" with short auburn hair, blue eyes and a surprisingly blank expression — when around other galdori that is.
Income Tier: Average
Advancement Plan: In the long term, PJ hopes to be able to increase the shop's output by gaining an additional press but that would also involve gaining more space, something which is possible if he can acquire additional property in Muffey, ideally nearby such as a neighbour — if they could be bought out. In the short-term, he's interested in gaining more custom, which might be possible if he had ways of luring people inside. Offering coloured illustrations is an possibility that he's considering but it might also be possible to make the place a tea shop again — at least in part — and include outdoor seating, an idea that Dora seems particularly enamoured by, possibly because it's her own.
