Downtown Hartford stationery and gift boutique shop Hartford Prints! on Friday marked its grand reopening in an enlarged space in the historic Pratt Street retail corridor.
Funded in part by the Hart Lift grant program – which used federal dollars to help landlords prepare first-floor space for new or expanding restaurants and merchants – the expansion resulted in a roughly 3,500-square-foot shop, roughly three times larger.
Hartford Prints! launched in 2013, at a time Pratt Street was mostly vacant. Today, the pedestrian-only street is home to a growing array of shops, facilitated by a $150,000 grant through the city’s Hart Lift program. Hartford Prints! also secured a $300,000 loan through the Connecticut Small Business Boost Fund for the effort.
Hartford Prints processed more than 23,000 orders in 2024 between its Hartford shop and a kiosk at Bradley International Airport.
“When we first opened on Pratt Street in 2013, I believed in downtown Hartford’s potential even when others couldn’t see it,” said Rory Gale, owner of Hartford Prints! “This expansion represents more than just additional retail space — it’s a testament to what’s possible with community vision and strategic support.”
Josye Utick, principal of Hartford-based architecture firm Site Nouveau, designed the Hartford Prints! expansion. She also serves as chair of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
The renovation gutted the interior of Hartford Prints! at 42 1/2 Pratt St. and expanded it into a neighboring storefront. The roughly $450,000 project was conducted by First Peak Construction, a contractor with offices in Middletown and West Springfield recommended by Utick.
Gale said it was important for her to hire a reliable company that could hit its deadline as her shop relocated a block away on Trumbull Street for six months.
Gale said the larger space will help her keep up with rapid growth in demand fueled by a successful social media and marketing campaign. On weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and during special events, the line to get into the shop sometimes stretched out her door and around the block.
“We weren’t able to fit all the customers in the store, and we weren’t able to fit all the merchandise in the store, so it was very clear we needed more space,” Gale said.
For Gale, it was important that space continue to be on Pratt Street, where she has been a key figure assisting in revitalization efforts.
“We have been part of making Pratt Street the destination we know it is,” Gale said. “I feel Hartford Prints! and Pratt Street are tied at the hip. The success of Hartford Prints! and the success of Pratt Street are one and the same.”
Julio Concepcion, executive director of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce and administrator of the Hart Lift grant program, touted the project as an example of strategic public investment leveraging private investment.
“Hartford Prints! exemplifies exactly what the Hart Lift Program was designed to achieve,” Concepcion said.
