Aug. 16, 2001 – To celebrate the opening of his newest St. Thomas store, in Grand Galleria, MAPes MONDe owner Michael Paiewonsky is "allowing the free download of one of my most popular and informative books," he said this week.
The book, "The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754)" by Waldemar Westergaard, can be found at Paiewonsky's online store at www.mapesmonde.com.
Paiewonsky, a third-generation Virgin Islander, said he hopes every student of history in the territory will download a copy during this limited-time offer.
Started in 1958 as "a personal collection of prints in my grandfather's [Isaac Paiewonsky's] store" MAPes MONDe has grown into a thriving business with multiple locations. Paiewonsky fondly recalls, "I created a museum in the A.H. Riise store. It was announced on the cruise ships that at Riise there was a wonderful visual collection of prints and paintings of the island that every tourist should see."
Before long he began selling his "historical treasures" from Riise's, eventually expanding into the picturesque Riise's Alley.
From that beginning, Paiewonsky developed his collection "during years of seeking images" for showing in island schools, "illustrating Caribbean history books" that he has written and for re-publication of books that he believed would benefit from his "collection of relevant illustrations."
Christened the Grand Galleria Art Gallery, the new MAPes MONDe store occupies five rooms on the first floor of the recently renovated former Grand Hotel complex next to Emancipation Garden. "Most people still remember the building as the Grand Hotel," Paiewonsky says. "We have been limping along" with the original MAPes MONDe stores in Riise's Alley and another on St. John in Mongoose Junction since 1989, he said. That was the year that Hurricane Hugo destroyed all the shops at Mountain Top, including what was then Paiewonsky's third MAPes MONDe location.
Paiewonsky says that when he saw the "magnificent restoration that the Lockhart family had done to the old Grand Hotel building," complete with a sky-lit central atrium, rich new woodwork and new tile floors, "I spoke to them. I was very lucky, actually. They were not planning to rent the atrium and those inner spaces."
Paiewonsky has stocked the new art gallery with more than 4,000 items, including "fine art, rare books and select maps and prints from the 1500s to 1800s."
The collection continues to focus on historically significant subjects from the Caribbean in general and the Virgin Islands in particular. He says that the inventory was "carefully selected from innumerable sources around the world in a process of interaction" with his customers.
Paiewonsky acquired the majority of the items during his travels in Denmark, England, France, Italy and Norway. Archival-quality reproductions of island scenes by well-known artists of the times can be bought at MAPes MONDe for under $50. Or for $2,000, the serious rare book collector can purchase an original edition of "The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule," the same book Paiewonsky is offering for free download from his web store.
Before Hugo hit the Virgin Islands in September 1989, Paiewonsky said, his three stores together had been grossing a "million dollars" annually. This year, he projects sales of $650,000 on his way back to the pre-Hugo highs. "MAPes MONDe has evolved into an international wholesaler as well as a local retailer," he said, routinely accepting orders from Argentina, Canada, England, Denmark and Germany in "any currency" through his web store as well as by traditional means.
Paiewonsky attributes his successes to his parents, Isidor and Charlotte Paiewonsky. "My father has given me the love of words, poetry and history. My mother taught me discipline, getting things done and business," he said.
His plans for the coming year include presenting five art exhibitions on the second floor of the Grand Galleria between November 2001 and May 2002. He said he also is preparing to release four more historic books that he has published for download from his web store.
