Guelph's newest Black-owned boutique is 'a dream that actually came true'

For Guelph's Denise Mansur, opening a store that features work solely from local Black artists and fashion designers was a dream come true.

The Ms. Meri Mak Boutique had its grand opening on the weekend, with dozens of community members in attendance at the downtown location at 5 Gordon St. 

"It felt surreal, it felt great ... I was proud of myself. It's a dream that actually came true," Mansur told CBC-KW.

Last year at this time, Mansur said she didn't even know opening her own store could be possible, "then it just happened."

"It feels good, it feels like I'm doing something for my community, for my children, hopefully having generational wealth for them, leaving something for them to be proud of and, I'm proud of myself," she said.

The boutique's creation was heavily influenced by Mansur's mother, and is meant to showcase Black representation in the Ontario city. She recalls when her artist mother came to Canada from Trinidad and she didn't have anywhere to display her artwork.

"There was no outlet here for her," said Mansur. "Her passion for it remained, but she couldn't do anything about it."

Instead, the only places Mansur's mother could share her artwork would be at church or to guests who came to her home. 

Mansur's mother was also a seamstress and a former student at the Fashion School of Toronto, so she served as a  major fashion influence.

When Mansur was younger, they used to spend Saturdays together in fabric stores along Spadina Avenue in Toronto. 

"I know what good quality is versus bad quality, I know what nice stitching is versus not nice stitching, I even know what a good thread is, versus not a good thread," she said. "Details, and buttons. That's where it came from." 

Positive reaction from the community

Many individuals in Guelph and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents gathered to support Mansur's initiative. 

For some, like certified beer sommelier and confectioner Lexi Pham of Crafty Palate, it was more than just the grand opening of a store — it meant an extra space to represent diversity and inclusion.

"It's a Black-owned business, it's just something that is generally needed in the city, so I wanted to come out and support," said Pham. 

"This is just an amazing thing to have especially [with] what we've been going through for the past two years with police brutality. This is just an amazing event to have."

Last summer, numerous anti-Black racism protests and vigils took place in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Events were held in Toronto, St. John's, Whitehorse and Calgary to name a few cities. 

Local supporter Mina Oliveria, who has been in Guelph since 2008, said she had seen stores owned by people of colour in Guelph that were forced to closed because they couldn't afford to stay open. 

Oliveria said the timing of the launch for this boutique was perfect. 

"I'm not Black, but I'm super proud of her for doing this," she said. 

Thousands of community members in Guelph, Kitchener and Waterloo gathered at protests following Floyd's killing, in support and solidarity with the Black community.

More recently, vigils were also held in the region following the detection of Indigenous children's remains at former residential schools in B.C. and Saskatchewan.

"It's been about a year since the original protests in Guelph and there was a recent vigil… It very much shows we're here. We're still going to do our thing and we're still going to thrive, and I love that." 

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie also was there to show his support for Mansur and accompanied her in cutting the ribbon. He emphasized that the location she picked, which is across from Guelph Farmers' Market, would help her gain customers and create jobs. 

"I'm thrilled for her. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, they take huge risks, so I'm always so supportive and happy for those that are taking that risk when they want to open up their own store." 

Now that pandemic restrictions are lifting, Guthrie said he's been encouraging residents to support small local businesses in the city, since shopping online takes away from the authentic shopping experience. 

Guthrie sees the boutique as an opportunity for people to get back to in-store shopping, and create relationships with business owners and staff after spending 16 months shopping behind screens. 

"The ability now for people to be able to come here to an actual store, to not only get to know [Denise] ... but to touch, feel, try on, get advice on the products that they have here to sell, is really important," said Guthrie.

Creating spaces for Black representation

Mansur said Ms. Meri Mak Boutique allows Black entrepreneurs to showcase their work to the public, since it's often difficult for Black artists to get their work into art exhibitions. 

Mansur recognizes there's a lack of representation when it comes to Black art, which is why her shop includes work from local Black artists. 

"I think it's fitting to have art in there by artists that are not prominent in Toronto or the GTA, but still are strong artists," she said. 

"So more people can appreciate their work, hopefully someone will buy their work and we can create revenue." 

Jaihan Dean, 23, is a local Black artist based in Markham, and got the opportunity to have her artwork exhibited at Mansur's shop.

"This is my first time outside of school [with] my work being up and being shown somewhere, so I feel great," said Dean. 

Dean's drawings are based on personal experiences. She refers to them as visual diaries that display emotions and life experiences. 

Together, especially as artists, we really support one another when it comes to us being Black artists in the community.- Jaihan Dean, 23

Dean said that often, it's members of the Black community who allow artists like herself to expose their art and show them the support they need. 

"[I'm] not saying that we're not able to show our work outside of the Black community, but I find that together, especially as artists, we really support one another when it comes to us being Black artists in the community."

Alexis Charles, CEO of Shyne Body Butter, said community and empowerment are the core values of her business, and she's happy to share this with Mansur's boutique. 

When she heard Ms. Meri Mak was opening, Charles was given the opportunity to sell her hand-made, natural products. 

She said it's been a blessing to work with Mansur and her team. 

"I'm all about community, I'm all about supporting local Black businesses, local Black women-owned businesses," said Charles.

To her, Black representation matters, and it's important for Guelph's community to see this since normally Black businesses are not highly visible.

"Just having a business run by a Black woman in Guelph that's promoting all these kinds of hand-made things by local artists, international artists, Black artists, it's so important that we see this," she said.  

"I love that she's right here [and] in front of everyone … It's just so important to have these faces where we can just thrive, live and just be our full selves unapologetically." 

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.