This article was previously published on GuelphToday.
Rumour has it Kara Munn, known locally as a former owner of since-closed Meow! on Carden Street and Royal Cat Records on Macdonell Street, is back downtown with a new vintage shop.
Rumours had its grand opening last Friday at 5 Quebec St.
Munn grew up in Guelph during her formative teen years and shopping secondhand was something she did because she liked vintage fashion and it was affordable. “But even as a teen, the first time I ever went to the vintage clothing show (in Toronto), I just was like this is my people, because in its glory days, it was unbelievable, right? So it was, this is what I'd love to do and I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be able to do it. But next thing you know, I ended up doing it,” said Munn.
She had a knack for it and when she was studying at the University of Guelph she chose not to finish because fashion became her whole life. She would sell clothes at vintage shows, antique markets and pop-ups near Guelph. In the 90s she said shopping vintage wasn’t as popular in Guelph as it was in Toronto.
She opened Meow! at 10 Carden St. about 18 years ago and closed it seven years ago. It was known for fancier dresses, she said. Anyone who knows Munn, knows she only wears dresses, usually accompanied with a pair of boots.
“I’ve never worn pants in my life,” she said.
After Meow! she didn’t know if she’d ever open a vintage store again but in between Meow! closing and Rumours opening at 5 Quebec St. she continued to sell vintage through pop-ups. She named the shop Rumours partly because one of her favourite albums is Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. With the shop her tagline is “what goes around, comes around.” The idea is yes rumours go around, but so does fashion because it’s cyclical.
Munn feels cyclical too because she’s back downtown selling vintage again.
In the last couple years she would casually look at places downtown to possibly open up a shop. She would debate with herself whether she should take the leap and it almost always ended with a no. When she popped into On The Verge at 10 Carden St. she asked the owner Cathy Cole if it would be a crazy idea to open a store again. She said Cole told her she should rent from her. “I just decided right now, here and there, if you want it, and if it's not you, I'm not going to close, but if it's you, you can have it,” is what Munn said Cole told her.
“So next thing you knew, I was opening a store. But that day when I walked in I didn’t know I was going to be opening a store either. It was supposed to be a casual conversation so sometimes these things happen like that, as they say,” said Munn.
Some of the companies she sources from to get new items like fun umbrellas, funny cards, and neat gift ideas are the same as the ones On The Verge used to use. On The Verge closed in March after 25 years of business.
She’s trying to keep the clothes at her new shop affordable and said most items are $50 and under, unless it’s a designer like Christian Dior. Munn’s mom asked her why things were so cheap and Munn’s response was “Well, I don’t want a museum, I want to sell.”
Back at Meow! she said most items were $30 and under, which was almost two decades ago. Some women who have popped into Rumours told her they had bought their prom dresses from Meow! and it boggles Munn's mind. She's planning on bringing in more dresses for spring for prom season.
Since Rumours is a vintage and consignment shop she sources the vintage pieces through her contacts. Munn is trying to appeal to a broader audience which can be challenging when it comes to all ages, styles and sizes. It’s most difficult to get a variety of sizes because true vintage tends to run on the small side, she said. The consignment part is where people can bring in items and the ones she takes go up for sale in the shop. If an item sells, the person who brought it in gets 40 per cent of the sale price in cash. If it doesn’t sell, Munn gives the item back.
She hopes to meet new people at the shop and people who knew her from Meow!.
