Grey Rock Clothing Co. in Downtown Guelph was born out of a desire to create something ethical and try and make a difference, even on a small, local level.
Hopefully it will stay that way.
Beth Timlin, who started the business almost five years ago with her husband Joel Pennington, is selling the store, located at
Finding a buyer likely won't be difficult. What's important to Timlin is finding the right kind of buyer.
The store sells style-conscious and ethically-made men's and women's clothing, shoes and accessories. From underwear made via wind power in
"We wanted to make sure it was an ethical business but we need to make it easy for people to do the right thing," she said of offering the right products as well as the right prices and service.
Selling it to someone with the same values is important. She knows that once the person buys it that will be out of her hands, but during the sale process wants to try and identify the right kind of person.
"Their values need to ally with mine," she said. "Core values. An ethical lifestyle. Finding the right person is key for me."
So far 15 people have expressed interest, including several former customers. She expects more.
"It was not an easy decision," said Timlin of the decision to sell.
Grey Rock came into being after the socially-conscious couple were looking to start an app that would help people source eco and ethically made clothing that wasn't made in a sweat shop somewhere.
When they realized just how hard it was to find those places, they decided to open Grey Rock.
"It matched all our values," Timlin said.
She took a nine-month Ontario Self-Employment Benefit course to learn the basics of opening her own business and then spent countless hours finding and vetting the products she was going to sell.
"Sweat shop-free and fashionable tend to be hard to find sometimes," she said. "We wanted clothing that looked good, was unique and professional. We wanted ethical and we wanted a certain level of style."
Baggy "oatmeal-colored t-shirts," and t-shirts with Che Guevara on the front and a pot leaf on the back were not something she was looking to sell, she said.
Timlin said the store has built up a strong and faithful clientele since it opened and is on solid financial ground, increasing its sales 20 per cent a year since opening.
Bids for the store are being accepted in June and July. August will be spent evaluating the bids and meeting those interested.
Timlin hopes to have the sale finalized in early September and introduce the owner to her regular clientele at a fifth anniversary event later that month.
Timlin, 35, and Pennington, 31, plan on setting out on a travelling adventure in the new year.
In fact that's how they met nine years ago. Timlin was on a bus tour in
It's pointed out that passengers aren't supposed to talk to bus drivers.
"That's okay, I don't think bus drivers are supposed to date the passengers," she laughs.
After years of not travelling much, a trip to
"We thought it would quell our appetite for travel for a while, but it just made us want more trips like that," she said.
The decision to sell was made in January.
They're not retiring and lavishly circling the globe.
They travel on a budget, often stay in hostels and sometimes stay somewhere for a while and work.
"We look at our life and what we want it to be like," she said of their passion for travel and experiencing new cultures and people.
"We love the details about how other people live, that's what really attracts me to travel," Timlin said.
She will miss
"Downtown is a community of people," she says.
