HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

116

NORFOLK ST MACDONELL ST

DOWNTOWN GUELPH

RE-INTRODUCING RUG & WEAVE (AGAIN)

WORDS & PHOTOS BY CHRIS TIESSEN

As I step through the glass doorway into Rug & Weave’s new downtown Guelph digs, it's as if all the burdens and anxieties of my day dissolve. For real. The calming ambience, chill music, sunny staff floating about, and the lovely merchandise that defines the place – all golds and browns and taupes and other soothing tones – seem miraculously to take a mental load off. ‘Whoah,’ I hear myself exclaiming to Sarah McBean (who, along with husband Svein, owns this home décor and lifestyle haven), ‘I think you might actually have created the antithesis of a typical shopping experience.’ With a laugh, she prevails on me to explain. And so I do.

‘For many folks, me included, shopping can be a joyless, frenetic experience – especially leading up to the holidays,’ I suggest. ‘Usually when I return from shopping I need a nice long bath to de-stress from the inescapable madness of it all.' Sarah nods as if to say she knows what I'm talking about. 'But what you’ve created here is something altogether different.’ I take a few steps deeper into the space – as if to test my hypothesis. My muscles relax. My pulse seems to slow. I’m happy just being here. I turn to Sarah and smile. She smiles back. ‘Well that’s really good to hear,’ she says. ‘After all, it’s what we’re after.’

Sarah elaborates: ‘When we got this space [in Spring 2021] my friend and colleague Jackie and I spent weeks with graph paper and measuring tape designing the interior to scale and figuring out how to ensure that our customers would feel comfortable while

we guided them through the shop.’ Pretty awesome, I think. ‘We even intentionally set up the first fifteen feet inside as a ‘decompression zone’ – that is, as a space where nothing’s for sale, and everything’s designed to put our clients at ease.’ Given the impression I registered when I stepped inside just now, what Sarah is saying makes eminent sense.

‘Of course, our bricks and mortar locations – the spaces we've occupied – have always been the very heart of our business,’ Sarah tells me while she and I begin to explore one of the two sprawling showrooms at this new downtown location. If what she says is the case – and I’m inclined to believe it is – then Rug & Weave’s heart has grown three times in the last handful of years. Indeed, since Sarah and Svein founded Rug & Weave the business has moved from a cozy two-room office in an old red brick on Eramosa (which is actually where TOQUE is now located) to a substantially larger industrial space in ‘The Ward’ to this expansive multi-floor establishment on MacDonnell. These moves are evidence of a thriving enterprise, no doubt. And of a healthy heart too.

‘Our physical spaces are where customers have always been able to see products, to experience things tangibly – try things out, in a sense, in real life,’ Sarah tells me. 'And this is where staff get to come together – to commiserate, brainstorm, strategize. There’s really no replacing it. And besides,’ she adds, ‘we take great pleasure – as do our clients – in the fact that our surroundings here are wonderfully beautiful.’ Indeed they are. I’ve always been enamoured of Rug & Weave’s impeccably designed spaces and this new location is, predictably, simply outstanding.

Situated in the former Guelph Mercury compound (the Mercury's absence continues to be a tremendous loss for the Royal City) this new Rug and Weave has six thousand square feet of very attractive showroom across two floors – as well as five parking spaces. In downtown Guelph. Unheard of. 117

Rug & Weave seamstress Lyndsey crafting in-house pillows

118

‘While we always love to see foot traffic in the store,’ Sarah notes, ‘the parking spots are great for folks picking up large items, and for our out-of-town customers.’ To be sure, Rug & Weave has become a destination for many folks living outside the region, as well as for locals. Here people who have only recently heard of the place join the Guelph regulars, alongside those who travel in from Toronto, Hamilton, Burlington, Richmond Hill, Markham, and of course Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo. The appeal of the place is no surprise. And this lively shop's success is even more worth celebrating when seen in the context of Guelph’s downtown renewal. Indeed, boutiques like Rug & Weave, The Modern Bride (on Wyndham), Blooms + Flora and Sunday General Store (on Suffolk), Sidonio’s (on Norfolk) and Kennedy Park (on Quebec) are elevating Guelph’s game as a regional (and beyond) shopping destination.

Sarah and Svein’s brave dream sure has come a long way. What began as a twoperson initiative that sold vintage Persian rugs has grown into a booming business with twenty employees and thoughtfully selected items for everywhere in the home. ‘This larger location has really allowed us to expand our product line,' Sarah tells me. ‘For instance, we’ve always wanted to offer furniture lines to our customers. With the larger space, we’re able to bring pieces in and stage them together – the way they might look in someone’s own space.’ From where we're standing, I can see a bed positioned with nightside tables, bedroom lighting, and matching rugs. (It’s a bedroom I could definitely get cozy in.) Beyond that are couches and chairs staged around a complementary coffee table stacked with chunky coffee table books about travel, food, and more. (A cozy living room, to be sure.) ‘It’s visual storytelling,’ Sarah says. 'We create the backdrop; our clients inject their dreams.' She’s got that right.

Besides furniture and rugs, Rug & Weave has expanded its other lines – including functional kitchen items, kids' goodies (under the name ‘Finnbird’), lighting, décor, and,

Sarah

Svein

119

120

of course, pillows. Made in-house. ‘We’re so excited about our collection of pillows,' Sarah rhapsodizes. 'Lyndsey, our full-time seamstress, is always busy cutting and sewing new designs from unique fabrics.’ I might say that I’m a fan, having collected more than a few of Rug & Weave’s pillows myself. It’s amazing how a few strategically-positioned pillows can pull together almost any space.

‘We now also have an in-house designer – another Sarah,' Sarah continues, 'who helps clients select items for their own space and who also works with clients’ own designers to help them source items at no cost.’ Not too shabby. 'And we have Alyssa, who works with potential clients to create mood boards online in an effort to achieve that perfect look before committing to buying. And store manager Emma and her staff always have the whole place looking terrific and customers feeling relaxed and looked after.’

There's still so much going on, but it seems to me that the big picture of this new space has reached completion. I turn to Sarah. ‘So do you think you can finally relax a little?’, I ask her. And I mean it. In the past several years, Sarah and Svein have moved the business three times, hired almost twenty staff, massively increased their product lines, grown their own family by two little kiddos – and have even managed to snag five parking spots downtown. Five spots.

After a pause, Sarah replies: ‘Svein once told me about a Korean concept called ‘work death’ – and I think it is what it sounds like. I suspect I’ve come close to it a few times.' She pauses before continuing: 'Of course it would be great finally to calm down a bit – to sit back and enjoy what we’ve all created here. But there are new ideas, new concepts, new visions brewing in my head.’ Just as I thought. ‘I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then,' I remark. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

Which is a good thing for downtown Guelph – and for the region, and for all of us.

RUG & WEAVE

14 MACDONELL ST, GUELPH rugandweave.com