Moncton vintage store SDV offers a safe community space

Inside Moncton’s SDV Vintage Shop, the store is filled with a little bit of everything, from vintage clothing to local favourites. It’s not your every-day boutique.

“In the store everything is organized by item, so it’s gender free,” said owner Caitlyn Rye.

“There’s not a women's section or a men’s section, so it’s really come in, shop, buy what you feel comfortable in.”

Rye has owned the store for over a year, but it’s existed in Moncton for a decade now. The shop’s main objective has always been focused more on people than clothing.

“It was started by a lady named Stephanie Dawn Vautour, so that’s where the SDV comes from, and she was really a pillar in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Unfortunately she was killed in a car accident on her 36th birthday, almost two years ago,” she said.

Stephanie’s mom took over the shop afterwards, but began looking for a new person to continue the legacy.

“When I found out the possibility was that it would close if it didn’t find an owner, I thought ‘this could be something that I could take over because I’m not so much into vintage, but I’m into people having a safe space,’” said Rye.

While Rye says she was never friends with Stephanie, the two actually went to the same university at different times and even worked at the same job at different times.

To this day, Stephanie’s mom is still involved and helps Rye out with certain tasks.

“I’ve never not had a safe space. So it was important to me that the safe space continues,” she said.

“I have a lot of people come in and it’s their first time trying on a dress and I love being able to share that with them and just offer an ear. I have a lot of people that come in just to chat. I’ve always had a very supportive family and I’m very aware that there’s a lot of people who don’t, so I have a lot of kind of adoptive children that come in, chat to me, ask advice or just come in just to have someone to talk to for a bit.”

SDV Vintage became known for its welcoming and inclusive space, and it’s a reputation that lives on with a new owner.

“I immediately, the first time I walked in was like ‘okay this is a safe space’ I just knew,” said customer, Chris Macleod.

“Even the pride flags and just everything like that, and actually Steph was one of the first people I came out to and that was like a really special moment and I still feel her energy through Cait.”

Macleod shopped at SDV Vintage for two years with the previous owner and have continued on now that Rye has taken over.

“I think with small town it’s especially more important just to give the LGBTQ+ community or those allies or just anyone really a space where they feel comfortable, that they want to shop, that they don’t have to be nervous to go in the men’s section if they present feminine,” they said.

The store is filled with a wide variety of clothing, including items from local vendors and artisans. Rye said she tries to keep prices low.

“Particularly in the summer when I have tourists coming in from bigger cities, oftentimes they’re like ‘is this really your pricing?’ because typically vintage stores would have prices quite a bit higher than I do,” she said.

“It’s important to me to keep items in the shop affordable so that a young person doesn’t have to spend their entire weekends worth of work on an outfit.”

Since she took over the store she has moved it to a new location that is closer to the parking lot for her customers and plans to launch a website in the future so that people can experience the store even if they aren’t local.

Providing a space to shop, connect and most notably just be yourself, SDV Vintage Shop is open Wednesday through Saturday every week.  

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