A Downtown Sudbury boutique is bound for Tinsel Town.
Gabrielle Roy, the owner of Stitch & Stone on Cedar Street, along with her floor manager, Sofi Guilbault and social media manager, Chelsee Taylor, are heading to Hollywood next month after their shop was invited to showcase their wares at the MTV Movie Awards on May 7.
They'll be rubbing elbows with more than 200 celebrities in the pre-party gifting suite where they'll be representing Stitch & Stone among the 40 international vendors selected to attend.
Roy describes her store, which has been open for two years, as an “easy-going, eclectic women's boutique.”
She stocks mostly local or, at least, Canadian brands — everything from women's clothing to apothecary and skin care products to gifts and even a small selection of men's items.
“We try to carry stuff that is for everyone,” says Roy. “We have everyone from young girls to grandmas, all shapes and sizes, and we're really proud of that.”
A celebrity endorsement in the form of a simple tweet or Instagram photo can spell big business for an emerging brand and Roy hopes her business will get its moment in the spotlight as she works towards expanding its online reach.
“We're really trying to grow our brand internationally online,” says Roy. “We were really excited when this happened because we think that this will give us a real boost.”
She credits her shop's social media presence for attracting the attention of MTV.
“We work really hard on our social media and we try to have a real presence out there,” Roy says. “And (MTV) had been following us along and they liked our vibe and our products that we were featuring on our social media and invited us to participate.”
Roy and her staff will be driving a van the roughly 4,100 kilometres from Sudbury to Los Angeles — a 40-hour drive — where they'll then set up a booth in the gifting suite and hand out swag bags to the celebrity attendees and snap photos with them.
“It's an opportunity to really show off our brand,” says Roy.
It could also be a chance to meet Ryan Gosling and Ellen Degeneres, who, according to Roy, are both rumored to be attending.
“I definitely hope to meet them,” says Roy. “That would be amazing.”
But even if she doesn't, she expects that Stitch & Stone's presence — both locally at the bricks and mortar level, and online — will reap the benefits of attending the MTV Movie Awards.
“Our goal is our online store and we really hope this will take it to the next level,” Roy says. “We already ship a fair bit to the States but we're hoping this will put us on a more international stage.”
“We're really excited about this opportunity and it was just perfect timing.”
The MTV Movie Awards will be broadcast live on May 7 at 8 p.m.
Visit Stitch & Stone's website and follow them along on their trip to L.A. on Facebook and Instagram.
