Black Rooster Decor

Black Rooster Decor

Owners Nina Ber-Donker (right) and husband Prince

Wanderlust

A love of travel inspires the choices at this chic Toronto home décor store | By Andrea Reynolds

Store owners Nina Ber-Donkor and her husband, Prince, find inspiration from travelling across Canada and overseas. In fact, when they first entered retail over seven years ago, sourcing high-end furniture and décor items from around the globe provided an outlet for them to explore different styles. This spirit of discovery still guides their product selection today, providing clients with fresh merchandise and a sense of wonder in every visit.

What makes your store unique?

Nothing gets added to our store that we haven’t personally seen and can vouch for 100 percent. It’s important to me to know what each product is like instead of hearing about it from someone else.

How would you describe your store and its atmosphere?

We are located in Leslieville in Toronto. It’s a design destination in the city. Our shop is very bright and open. The white walls and neutral concrete floors provide the perfect background to showcase our products and the beautiful artwork.

What is your background and why did you decide to get into retail in the first place?

I worked full-time in publishing for many years, but I had this dream of a design store in the back of my mind.

Tell us how your store got started and how has it evolved?

Seven years ago, we started Black Rooster Decor strictly online. I was still working at my publishing job. We live in Leslieville in Toronto, and when we saw the location of our first space become available, we knew it was time to open a store. I stayed on for six months, working part-time in publishing and part-time at the store until I felt ready to commit to the store full-time. Now, we’ve recently moved into a bigger space and we live in the space above.

What are the main categories of products you carry?

We carry it all! Furniture, accessories, artwork, lighting, rugs, even some outdoor accessories. My husband, Prince, oversees all the plants we sell in the store. They are really popular with our clients. They love seeing what he comes up with, and they look so perfect that people think they are fake!

To what do you attribute your success?

In the beginning, I was following a designer named Christine Dovey. I reached out to her through social media and began a kind of collaboration. She mentioned the store and used some of our products. It created trust with our brand and gave us some credentials. I liked her vibe; she liked my vibe. She put out a good word for us, and it got us started off in the right direction.

How do you promote your store and what are your most successful promotions or marketing mediums?

Pinterest is huge for us. About 90 percent of our traffic comes from there. We have around 600 new online viewers per day, so we just keep pinning the pretty pictures! It’s a great way for the customer to “be there” without being there.

What has been your most successful recent event?

Creating a new secondary store called Black Rooster Maison. This is strictly for our Canadian clients and highlights Canadian vendors and products. Nothing is imported from the U.S., so lead times are faster. We’re really proud of it!

Do you have a favourite new product line?

Personally, I love Vancouver Candle Co. It’s a beautiful newer line. It’s not too expensive and the candles smell so good. The line is made in Canada, which we love promoting, and they look great on the shelves mixed in with our décor.

Looking back, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

Online is the way to go! We wouldn’t have expanded without it, and social media presence can’t be stressed enough. It’s a great way to stay fresh and new with your clients. We started on Instagram five years ago with 3000 followers and now we have 17,000 followers.

What do you see for the future?

We are developing a luxury, curated box for gifting which will range in price from $75 to $200. And, I definitely want to travel more and continue sourcing new products and ideas.

Finally, how do you stay inspired?

Travelling is fun and inspiring. We have taken trips recently to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and we shipped some exciting things back with us! But I also love to see what others are doing on Instagram. I follow travel and destination hotel accounts. The world is at your fingertips. It’s pretty incredible.