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The Map Shop
The Map Shop’s goal is simple. We want to inspire adventure, connect customers to past memories, and offer a better understanding of our world.
We’re a group of geographers, cartographers, designers, and travelers. We’re not a cold warehouse, we’re real people in Charlotte, NC who love what they do. Our interests are varied but it seems we’re more alike than different. We’re all a little weird, we all hungry to explore, we’re ok with risk, we do what we say, we seek elegant solutions, and we actively make our workplace fun.
Our Guarantee
We already have or can make a product of the place most important to you. Our work is accurate. You are our priority. You will receive personal communication.
We’ve worked hard to offer a tailored and personal service that allows you to find the place that’s most important to you. Our team is confident in the combined knowledge and we refuse to be stumped! It’s important that we take care of those around us and actively create a company where we want to work and improve.
Map Shop Team
Sure, we like maps, but we’re here because of the people we meet and the stories we hear. Everyone who calls or walks through the door has a story about a place they want to go or a place they want to reconnect to. When you call the Map Shop, you’ll talk to one of us.
Cam Claiborne
Fulfillment
Matt Davis
Custom Maps
Mariana Dorbecker
Marketing
Megan Groll
Customer Service
Ethan Kurtz
Cartography
Andy Reynolds
Operations
Tony Rodono
Spreadsheets
History
We get asked nearly every day, “How does a map shop stay open in the era of GPS?” Here’s a brief history of the store that despite the odds, keeps thriving.
The Map Shop opened its doors in Charlotte, NC in 1991 as the second location of the flagship store in Greenville, NC. Patrice Northrup applied for a job in 1993 and with a small team, the Map Shop began to make a name for itself as a place you could walk in and grab a folded map, a wall map, or a geography-related gift. As often happens in retail, the real challenge happens with the second store, and within a couple years, it looked like the store’s days were numbered.
In 1995, Patrice jumped at the opportunity to buy the store so it would remain open. Her husband, Ted, was in business school and agreed to come on board as well. The Northrups continued to grow the store and it soon became the go-to stop for anything travel and map-related in Charlotte. They built a cartography department in 1998 to began making their own maps, and the MapShop.com was launched soon after. In 1999, the Map Shop moved to its current location at the iconic corner of Kings and Morehead.
After nearly 25-years running the business, the Northrups passed the torch husband-and-wife vendors, Tony and Katie Rodono, in 2016. The Map Shop had carried the Rodono’s “map art” for years and when the Northrups felt the pull to retire and travel, the conversation began. The Rodono’s were looking to expand the offering from their original company, CityPrintsMapArt.com, and the expansion seemed natural. The Map Shop is now a place where you can get a map, of anywhere, in any style. If we don’t already have it, we’ll make it.
