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IQALUIT - More than one buyer has been pleasantly surprised after stepping inside the North West Company's new 14,000 square-foot Inuit art showroom in Toronto.

"They are in awe of what they're looking at," said Margaret Vincente, office and systems manager of North West Company's Inuit Art Marketing Service (IAMS).

The North West Company's Inuit Art Marketing Service's new showroom in Toronto features thousands of pieces of work from Nunavut artists. More space and added features has the company hoping to boost sales. - photo courtesy of Margaret Vicente

Through the North West Company, IAMS purchases carvings from communities across Canada's North and acts as a wholesaler - the showroom is not open to the public - to more than 300 galleries across North America, Europe and beyond.

"We've shipped as far as Japan and Dubai," said Vicente.

On the outside, the red brick building housing the new space, located just off Airport Road near the Toronto Pearson International Airport, is nice but easily forgettable.

Inside is a different story. The gallery is filled with hundreds upon thousands of Inuit carvings.

Meticulously organized by region and theme, sculptures ranging in price from $50 to $50,000 grace every surface of the showroom, filling dozens of tables and wall-to-wall shelves.

Improvements to the new space cost the company "many thousands of dollars," said Vicente, and, in addition to more square-footage, includes floor-to-ceiling windows and a high-tech gallery light system to better showcase the pieces.

"Everything is so different," said Vincente, comparing the new space, which opened in November, to the old 5,000 square-foot showroom.

It's a difference Nunavut artists - whose work makes up a large portion of the showroom - stand to benefit from.

"It's a lot more space and a better display of the carvings," said Chris Pudlat, the company's senior carving buyer. Pudlat is based in his hometown of Cape Dorset, where the company purchases from about 350 artists.

"Surely buyers want to spent more time (in a better environment) instead of going to other locations," added Vincente, explaining the drive behind the new space.

The new showroom has 10 web cameras strategically positioned to let faraway buyers can view the art "if they cannot travel to touch and feel," said Vicente.

The cameras are so good a buyer can zoom in close enough to read the carving's identifier tag, she added.

Vincente is hoping the new features will help boost sales for the showroom.

Pudlat, who has been buying pieces from Cape Dorset artists for 13 years, will be in Toronto this week to see the new space.

He was last down in June, before the showroom had made its move.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it. I hear it's a huge space," he said.