If you’re looking for a place to thrift in the west end, there’s a new shop that’s perfect for the modern shopper with quirky, cool style. You probably know the type — your friend with a super eclectic wardrobe who always shows up to the function looking both creative and sophisticated.
That’s because Mika Lemm, owner of Roncesvalles’ Maison Violet Vintage, has spent her entire life searching secondhand shops for true treasure pieces. Her mom, who she describes as her favourite person in the world, began bringing her along on Value Village excursions before she could even walk.
“She taught me everything I know about being a picker; as I grew up all my friends would be like, ‘take me to a thrift store and find me all the good stuff,’” says Lemm. “That’s how it started — I just loved treasure hunting and finding things for other people.”
For that reason, she always knew that she wanted to have her own store. She spent years working in retail in her hometown in Montreal, gleaning business insights from each shop.
In the early 2000s, she moved to Manchester, England for a couple of years and opened her first store, a small stall called Chloe’s Closet, named fondly after her cat at the time, who would sleep in her closet and cover her clothes in hair.
It was never Lemm’s intention to stay in the U.K. long-term, which made it the perfect opportunity to try her hand at ownership and learn the ropes. Away from the stall, she’d do buying trips to Amsterdam and Paris.
“The thing I miss most about England was the car boot sales,” she says. “You’d go to this huge field and cars would park and open up their trunks and sell the most amazing stuff. It was my paradise.”
She moved back to Canada in 2005, and opened a new store in Ottawa called Young Janes, which she operated for a few years. After eight years of business, however, she was starting to feel burnt out and felt a change was in order.
She had visited Toronto enough times that she had already made friends and knew some of her favourite neighbourhoods.
“I’ve always been a big city gal, but Ottawa was too small for me, and I just fell in love with Toronto immediately,” she says. When she officially made the transition in 2014, her first impression was of how much people were interested in helping her, excitedly introducing her to others in the thrift community. She began working at Common Sort, managing the Riverside location for a few years, before her desire to own a business returned to her with force.
“Working at Common Sort was a great segue between moving to Toronto and figuring out what I wanted to do, because I came back to vintage and realized this is actually what I’m meant to do. I just needed a little break from it,” Lemm says.
She launched an Instagram business and began circulating the market scene in Toronto, from Hippie Market to Good Friends Market. She credits Hippie Market (and Sunday Variety) founder Kealan Sullivan with helping her become established as a vendor by introducing her to many fellow vintage business owners in the city.
In 2023, she decided to try her hand at a permanent space again, hosting a six-month-long pop-up in her friend’s cafe and consignment store, 551 St. Clair. Though it was a small space, she befriended many thrifters in the local community, many of whom expressed interest in visiting her at her next venture.
Towards the end of the pop-up in November, a friend sent her a listing for a vacant store in Roncesvalles at Howard Park. Little did she know, she was about to fall in love all over again.
“I just had a gut instinct that it was exactly where I needed to be, and that I could make the space super incredible,” she says.
She began renovating, juggling her time between the pop-up on St. Clair and the Roncesvalles store. With the help of her mother, an interior designer, she removed the store’s ugly tiles to unearth and restore the beautiful hardwood underneath.
“My mom stayed for almost the whole renovation process,” says Lemm. “She was my project manager; while I’d be at St. Clair, she’d be there making sure everything ran smoothly.”
They rushed to ready the store through Christmas, and by the start of January, Lemm opened the doors to her newest thrift business, Maison Violet.
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“It’s been about five months now and it’s just been the most incredible experience,” she says. “It’s my dream space, and I’m so happy with all the people I’ve met, and all the other businesses on the street that have been so welcoming.”
She describes her selection as eclectic, but also timeless — with something for every age range and body type.
“When I source, each piece has to be something really special; it has to have some element of it that makes it cool and different,” she explains. “I buy stuff that mixes in well with modern wardrobes, and I think that’s what makes my business work so well. The stuff I source is inspired by the moment.”
Maison Violet is located 412 Roncesvalles Ave., and is open 12-6 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday, and 12-7 p.m. Thursday through Friday.
