Walk Thirty Nine Steps

My education as a letterpress printer was helped greatly by printing coffee bags for ROW142, the coffee shop up the street from the print shop. Our arrangement was simple: I printed the bags, they plied me with great  coffee.

There is no greater printing education than figuring out all the fiddly bits of printing a complicated coffee bag with multiple thicknesses. And then figuring out how to do that reliably over and over. I loved it. And I learned so much.

When ROW142 was about to give way to what is now Receiver Coffee, moving just up the street, I memorialized the move in a special limited edition coffee bag. 

Receiver posted this lovely tribute to that bag, and the move that begat it, on Facebook earlier this week:

You may have noticed a new piece of art hanging behind our counter on Victoria Row:

“WALK THIRTY NINE STEPS.”
Peter Rukavina, 2014

At first glance, it might look like just a framed coffee bag. For us, and perhaps for some of you, it’s much more than that. This piece was part of a very limited run of hand-pressed bags created by local artist and printmaker Peter Rukavina in late May and early June of 2014.

Peter had been designing and printing bags for us back in the PRE-ceiver days. So when we made the move down the street to open our very first Receiver Coffee location on Victoria Row, he marked the occasion with this thoughtful, conceptual piece.

The phrase “WALK THIRTY NINE STEPS” isn’t just a literal nod to the short distance we moved—it’s a subtle metaphor for progress, belief, and the small but meaningful steps it takes to turn an idea into something real. It reflects both our physical journey and the emotional one: the leap of faith it took to open our doors, and the creative energy that continues to drive us.

To our team, this piece is a daily reminder of where we started, what we believed in, and how far a bit of passion and persistence can go. And while it may have originated as functional design, we think it stands on its own as a quiet, beautiful work of art.

We hope it speaks to you as much as it does to us. Sometimes, the simplest works carry the greatest meaning.

Back at you, coffee friends: we were there together, at the beginning of our respective crafts, and we’ve both come a long way. Thank you for the tip of the hat.