Deck: Kingston’s unique activity store offers games, puzzles, and craft supplies.
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Minotaur has been charming locals and visitors alike since 2005. If you step inside, you might find people on the prowl for a new hobby, puzzlers looking for a cool Harry Potter-themed puzzle, or families discovering the perfect acquisition for game night.
We spoke with Justine Scala, co-owner of Minotaur, about the activity store’s origins and how she stays true to her vision of offering products that customers can actively engage with. While Minotaur sells traditional games such as chess and dominoes, you’ll be surprised by the variety of activities you can discover here. Their selection includes single-player and multi-player card, memory, and strategy games. You can find the perfect gift with their variety of apparel, plants, activity books, journals, and other knickknacks from various fandoms. If you’re looking to get crafty, they have just what you need to get started in knitting or crochet. Tap into your inner artist with unique art supplies or get nostalgic with toys such as kaleidoscopes, marbles, and finger puppets.
The magic of Minotaur is obvious at first glance. The store is known for their imaginative window displays. Throughout the year, customers are often drawn in by the displays designed by local artists. The fantastic window artistry even won the Downtown Kingston! Window Wonderland competition in 2020.
Justine was an archaeologist living in Toronto and thinking of a career change when she decided to move to Kingston and get a feel for the retail market. One morning, she simply decided she would open a retail store, name it Minotaur, and convince one of her best friends to co-found it with her.
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As a lover of crafts and games, creating an activity-focused store just seemed natural to Justine. She also wanted to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all types of gamers.
“There was a time, and I don’t think this is true generally anymore, but it certainly was when I opened the store, that gaming was for guys, especially certain types of games. Sometimes I would go into games stores in Toronto and not feel totally comfortable. I would still go in, but I wouldn’t feel completely welcomed and I wanted to change that.”
The store also has a ramp, making exploring the space physically accessible to all. Minotaur’s welcoming atmosphere is also cultivated by the free activities and opportunities offered to make connections with others. A big part of the Minotaur attraction has been its free craft nights, cribbage tournaments, and games nights. While these events were curtailed due to COVID-19, the fun, community spirit is still buzzing at the location, and events are set to return soon. Inspiration for the activities began when Justine developed a love for community events after her previous experience working at a second-hand record store. The store also sold instruments. Customers would come in and play the guitars, talk about music, and listen to specific records.
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“When I started thinking about Minotaur, I wanted to capture that feeling, a feeling where people felt, no matter who they were, comfortable coming in the store. I also have always been an active community person. It’s a lot more fun to do things like games nights than just to buy and sell products. It engages and gives something back to the community because we don’t charge for any of these things.”
Minotaur also helped start King Con, a Kingston game convention that ran for several years and engaged gamers, comic book lovers, crafters, and cosplay fans. These community events are what Justine is most proud of after 17 years in business.
While the growing business requires Justine to spend some more time behind-the-scenes, she makes sure to spend time each day on the floor, where all the magic happens:
“I do try to not just be an office person because it’s important to me to connect with customers, to be out there, and anyway, it’s fun!”
We asked Justine about how she decides which fun products the store will offer. It’s a curated effort designed with intention, feedback from customers, and a little bit of luck:
“It’s something of an organic process. We have about 150 suppliers, 125 of whom I order from on a regular basis, and I just know something when I see it. There’s a feel. I don’t get it right 100 per cent of the time, but there’s a feel to the store and I can look at something and know whether it’s going to fit or not. I’ve also had almost 17 years of practice.”
Justine chooses products based on the vision she has for the store while also catering to customer desires.
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“If someone is in your store and they’re excited about a product, they’re selling to the other customers around them. They’re also selling to me because I understand that offering that product was the right decision. Over time it gets refined. Having said that, you also have to be flexible as a retailer. Something that might be popular one year you might be tired of the next year, so you have to keep aware of what is selling and keep an eye on trends. I sort of have a good sense of what people are feeling at a particular time in terms of products. That’s harder to put into words but just being able to sense the collective mood of the public is an important thing to be able to do.”
Reflecting on Minotaur’s evolution, Justine doesn’t believe it was a challenge to grow the business to where it is today.
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“This is what I do so I just kept doing it. I just make sure as much as possible that I’m doing interesting things within the store. I’m a people-person, so I get to chat with people… and one of my motivations for starting the store was to make a community space and I feel we have achieved that. That’s what keeps me going.”
Justine’s bustling activity store is a vibrant part of what makes downtown so lively. By encouraging creativity, community, and a little bit of friendly competition, Minotaur welcomes any and every one to tune in to their inner child.
