Oct 22, 2007

All roads lead to this storeBy Amy BaldwinCharlotte.com

Patrice Northrup is a map geek.

As a child, she was also a book nerd and wanted to know where on the globe the places she read about were, so she consulted maps. As an adult, the college geography major (naturally), took jobs that further gave direction for her passion for maps — first drawing them for a civil engineer and later selling them at a specialty shop in Charlotte.

“I love to travel and a map gives you the freedom to be adventurous and explore without worrying about getting lost. … I love to study maps of the places I am planning to visit. It’s also fun to pour over them after a trip and reminisce about the places I’ve been,” said Northrup, owner of The Map Shop at Morehead Street and Kings Drive.

Among her memorable travel moments: Bumping into travel writer Rick Steves while in a small town in northern Italy.

Northrup likes to say her shop, which she bought in 1995 and relocated from South Boulevard, sells all things related to geography. There are classroom maps, folding maps for places from Charlotte to Burkina Faso and everywhere in between and reproductions of antique maps, along with globes, travel books and map-related gift items and toys.

“Charlotte is a confusing city and that is actually good for business. It is laid out like a spider web,” said Northrup, noting that despite living here for nearly 20 years she still carries a city map in her car.

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