The Avant-Garden Shop Celebrates Another Milestone, Running 22 Years Strong In Business

It’s been 22 years and The Avant-Garden Shop still running strong as they celebrated its anniversary with a customer appreciation event at its store on Thursday.

owner Brenda Ibey (far right) celebrates customer apprciation day on her 22nd anniversary as customers continually come in and out of the shop on the milestone date. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The store offered no tax on all items, refreshments and door prizes to celebrate the milestone. Soroptimist International Peterborough was there to help with gift-wrapping as a fundraising effort to support education for women and girls, locally and internationally.

The shop opened on George Street on Dec. 12, 2002 and operated for three and a half years before moving to its current location at 165 Sherbrooke St. due to increasing product demand.

Brenda Ibey, Avant-Garden Shop owner, attributes the community and her store’s uniqueness to remain in business for the past 22 years.

“We've really focused our product line on a lot of Canadian-made items, things that are a little different than what you get everywhere else,” she explained. “We have wonderful customers. I really attribute a lot of our success to our wonderful customers.”

Avant-Garden sells items such as outdoor wall art, hand-tuned wind chimes, East Coast and Ontario pewter, garden flags, locally made garden art, jewellery, coasters, candles, quality bird feeders, non-GMO bird seed, birding books, greeting cards, and more.

The store has won four Business Excellence awards, including 2022 Business Woman of the Year. Wild Bird Trading has also awarded it the title of Best Wild Bird Store.

“You have to be dedicated. You have to willing to be open almost every day and stick to a theme,” explained Ibey. “Talk to other business owners. They're often willing to help and I've spoke to a lot of business owners over the years trying to help them and young entrepreneurs.”

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The Avant-Garden Shop Celebrates 20 Years in Peterborough

The Avant-Garden Shop celebrates 20 years of business; opening its doors in Downtown Peterborough on Dec. 12, 2002.

Proud shop owner Brenda Ibey. Photo courtesy of The Avant-Garden Shop.

The shop opened on George Street on that date and remained there for three and a half years. As demand grew for bird seed and bird feeders, the owners decided on a location with easier parking, thus prompting their move to the current location at 165 Sherbrooke St.

Over the years, the shop’s sale items extended. From Canadian-made outdoor wall art, hand-tuned wind chimes, east coast and Ontario pewter, garden flags, locally made garden art, jewellery, coasters, candles, quality bird feeders, non-GMO bird seed, birding books, greeting cards and more.

Owner Brenda Ibey has had many successes through her shop; winning four Business Excellence awards including her most recent title of 2022 Business Woman of the Year. The store has also been awarded Best Wild Bird store by Wild Bird Trading who services similar businesses across the country in 2021.

“Truly an honour to be recognized as one of the best birding shops in Canada,” says Avant-Garden in a press release. “Brenda and her team are very appreciative of her wonderful customers over the last 20 years who have supported the business and have helped it to grow to become one of the best gift and birding shops in the area.”

As 2023 approaches, the shop says they plan to continue seeking out unique, Canadian-made items while building on their past successes.

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Local Gift Under $25 For The Bird Watcher

If you have someone who's always peering out their window for a glimpse of a bird at the feeder, head over to the Avant-Garden Shop at 165 Sherbrooke Street for all the birding and gardening items you could possibly want. We thought these bird seed creations would make a great gift for under $10!

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Peterborough Participates In Park(ing) Day This Friday

Friday, September 20th, marks the annual worldwide PARK(ING) DAY. This is the day where cities and communities voluntarily transform parking spaces into park space for one day. This initiative is to help bring awareness for the need for more urban green space. On this day, Peterborough will be transforming a parking space on Sherbrooke Street near The Avant-Garden Shop into green space. With a little sod and some lawn furniture, a beautiful park space will be created. Check out the Facebook event for more details on Peterborough's involvement to help celebrate this great day. 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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The Avant-Garden Shop Latest EPIC Ventures Winner

Congratulations to Brenda Ibey of The Avant-Garden Shop, who recently won the EPIC Ventures award and recognition from the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation.  

PtboCanada had the opportunity to visit the downtown store and chat with Brenda about her experiences over the years.  

Although some items do come to the store from the United States, Brenda has always strived to keep the store as local and as Canadian-based as possible. The store has a wide array of bird feeders, gardening supplies and décor for your home both inside and out.

The Avant-Garden Shop will be celebrating 10 years in business on December 12th and are commemorating the occasion tonight (November 22nd) by hosting a Customer Appreciation Event from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

There will be door prizes, refreshments and no tax on store items. It's a great opportunity to get started on some holiday shopping.

The shop is also part of the Peterborough and Area Garden Route. This initiative is to help support our local growers and garden boutiques in the area, as well as to promote and encourage the genuine love for all things nature and gardening within our area. For the complete list of participants and for more info, visit them on Facebook.

Along with their EPIC Ventures award, Avant-Garden also just won the award for Best Retail Business (non-chain) at the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards held in October.

The Avant-Garden Shop is located at 165 Sherbrooke Street and is open Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can contact Brenda at 705.743.0068/Facebook/Twitter.

 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris and Evan Holt]

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