Third store for local entrepreneur

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This article was published 07/08/2019 (2225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s no small feat to consecutively operate three retail storefronts in Osborne Village, but a determined Judy Coy has done just that with the opening of her latest business venture.

Coy is the owner of the popular jewelry and accessories shop Silver Lotus and neighbouring Rooster Shoes. In July, she added another member to her growing retail family on Osborne Street — Small Mercies.

“We thought, what does the Village need, and what can we add to the Village to bring more people here,” Coy said, sitting at a cafe table in the courtyard adjacent to Small Mercies (111 Osborne St.).   

“The way we survive is on community and it’s the people who live in the Village who really support us.”

The new shop is not a traditional retail space, Coy explained. In the front, artisan goods and hand crafts hang from the walls of the open sales floor. Hammered brass wind chimes, woven baskets, handmade pottery and art are on offer alongside jewelry cases and antique, vintage decor.

Through a set of wide doors, the shop opens into a rustic cafe adjacent to the airy private courtyard, where people can spend some time with a cup of coffee or tea. And farther into the store, plants and fresh-cut flowers are for sale next to homemade soaps and linens.

Small Mercies will also be home to pop-up shops, meditation and yoga sessions, live music and spoken word poetry, and non-profit, animal welfare outreach events, Coy said.

“We thought what can we add to the mix that’s not treading on anyone else’s toes, nor our own? How can we have growth without repeating ourselves?” Coy said.

Across the three spaces, Coy estimates her shops occupy about 4,500-square-feet — a presence she’s been building slowly over the years. For over three decades, Coy has chosen Osborne Village as the home for her businesses: the first was Gilded Lily’s (where Urban Waves now resides) which closed and made way for Silver Lotus (now at 103 Osborne St.), then Rooster Shoes (which operated on River Avenue and moved to Osborne Street in 2014), and now the latest sister store, Small Mercies.

Over the years, her three daughters have also become involved with the businesses, working in the shops, providing digital marketing and online retail support, and in the case of Small Mercies, taking on the role of operator. Coy’s youngest daughter Arden will be handling the day-to-day operations of Small Mercies and steering the ongoing use and development of the space.

Even with some of the challenges associated with retail in the neighbourhood — high turnover, long term vacancies, and parking — Coy said she will always choose the Village as the home base for her livelihood.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else and I don’t want to move the stores anywhere else. I think the charm of it is the feeling of discovery.”