It has been 10 years of Good Vibes on Main and the clothing store is celebrating its anniversary with the grand opening of its new location.
Owners Vickie and Ken Sparks hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 16 at the new store at 222 Main St. S. and reflected on the past 10 years, which Vickie said have been a whirlwind.
"It’s been a labour of love, which I think any small business is,” she said.
The couple moved from Toronto to open the store in Newmarket. Sparks said they originally wanted to be in the block of Main they are in now but couldn't make it work and ended up at 254 Main St.
She said it was always a temporary location for them, but one they stayed in for more than nine years. Then one day while getting her regular coffee from Cardinal Press, which used to occupy 222 Main, she found out they were moving up the street and the space would be available. She said they signed the lease less than a week later.
Good Vibes was a part of the "Main Street shuffle" that saw a couple of businesses moving around the street, opening its new store Aug. 25.
"It’s amazing what a block difference can make,” Sparks said. "“It just has better vibes. That’s a comment we’re getting from a lot of people -- it really does have warm, good vibes in here."
The store is bigger and offers a better laid-out space and more visibility on the street. On top of that, Good Vibes was able to put up its full Life is Good sign, marking them as an official Life is Good store.
The clothing brand was started by two brothers in Boston in 1994 who wanted to spread a simple message of positivity and optimism by printing just three simple words "life is good" on a t-shirt.
The brand is now sold in stores throughout the United States, but Good Vibes on Main is one of only two stores in Canada that carries the brand, with the other one—Life is Good Westport—located in a small town outside of Kingston.
The Sparks first encountered the brand in San Diego and connected with it immediately, deciding eventually to open their own Life is Good store.
Along with the brand's variety of designs, each Life is Good store gets to participate in a name drop program that involves creating exclusive designs with the name of the town where that store is located. For Good Vibes, that includes a handful of colourful designs with Newmarket, ON on them.
Sparks said that having the Life is Good branding outside the store has been a big draw for them and she said new customers have been coming in just after seeing it.
She said meeting new customers is her favourite thing from the last 10 years, even if it's just people coming in to chat. She said the community has been really supportive of the store.
"Right from the very beginning, we just got lots of support and we love just being a part of Newmarket and supporting the community, doing what we can," she said.
Along with the ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony Nov. 16, which was attended by Mayor John Taylor, Councillor Bob Kwapis, members of the chamber, and other customers.
Good Vibes on Main held an anniversary party at Market Brewing Company on Nov. 11 and raised $3,000 to support local musician Glenn Marais and his charity MusicCan.
Sparks said she and Ken are looking forward to the next 10 years of business in Newmarket.
