Mississauga's best-kept retail secret - the I'm for REAL (Revolutionizing Environmental Awareness and Lifestyles) store - isn't going to be a secret anymore.
And that is a very good thing.
When Shelley-Ann and Michael Solomon started the business on Earth Day 2006, they knew they had their work cut out for them. Located to the rear of the row of shops on the west side of Queen St. in Streetsville, the problem was that no one ever found the mecca for "green" shoppers, even though it featured an amazing array of products, from clothes to personal care products, to art, to fair-trade chocolate.
The Streetsville locale closed in August but I'm for REAL has lived up to its name by resurfacing in a perfect spot — in the retail row of stores inside the emergency entrance of Credit Valley Hospital, in what used to be the building's main lobby.
"In the other location, we were bringing every person in the door," says Shelley-Ann, a big smile on her face as she and her sister held the official opening of the new location Friday. "We literally had to create that person ourselves."
In its new home, there are 3,000 staff who already have a keen interest in health, and a ton of visitors who are thinking more about their health because they are patients or they are visiting patients.
For the first time ever, I'm for REAL truly has walk-in trade.
Despite the tiny size of the space (308 sq. ft.), the Solomons still manage to carry an enormous range of products and, through the wonder of the Internet, many more are available for the asking.
The store abounds in bamboo and hemp products and a big seller for Christmas is a series of wood puzzles, in the shape of Canadian animals made of rubberwood, which many new Canadians love to send out of the country to relatives.
This is one shop where you'll never have to worry about toys with lead paint, or clothes treated with chemicals or products that made from sweatshop labour.
Since Shelley-Ann, who just happens to have a master's degree in behavioural medicine, is a natural born educator, it makes sense to have a little library too. Cook books (Foods That Fight Cancer) books for expectant parents (The Complete Organic Pregnancy) and new parents (The Womanly Act of Breastfeeding) will catch the eye of lots of browsers, especially those looking for presents for patients.
"The response so far has been wonderful," says Shelley-Ann. "A lot of people who are in the hospital are going through major health issues and are really thinking about what they can do differently for themselves and their bodies."
If you can't be bothered with learning all the details of the problems of plastics filled with bisphenol A or the issues surrounding the toxic chemicals used to produce most cotton, you can let I'm for REAL do the research for you and be assured you are getting an environmental responsible product.
Dropping by with her mother to do some shopping Friday was Stephanie Crocker, Peel Environmental Alliance Youth Alliance coordinator at Ecosource.
Carrying a puzzle in the shape of a beaver, Crocker says, " I love that this is an ecological toy," she says. "I see people wheeling big buggies away from Wal-Mart with carts full of really unhealthy things for kids.
"I'm for REAL is making the connection between health and the commercial products we choose to put in our homes and in our bodies," says Crocker, pointing out that the Solomons also have gifts that simply can't be purchased anywhere else.
Grassroots on Bloor St. in Toronto carries many similar products, "but it's a long way to go and a lot of the things I'm for REAL has are unique," says Crocker. "I love supporting this store."