ZuZu Fashion Boutique has been Tracey Baker’s creative outlet for several years.
The local entrepreneur has helped her downtown shop evolve into a dynamic enterprise while she navigated the challenges of street construction, a pandemic and her own health concerns.
She has hosted online events, on-the-street fashion shows, interviewed other entrepreneurs, telling their stories online, and has been an active part of the downtown fabric.
Now, after close to seven years, the Barrie woman is ready to pass the retail torch to a “new, wonderful, ambitious, energetic person" to take over the store at 25 Dunlop St. E.
Baker, who first was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, announced this week that the time has come for her to focus all her energy on her health. She has put the store up for sale.
“I love downtown. I live downtown. My shop is downtown,” Baker says. “I’m pretty protective of my downtown. … I’m very quick to defend the beauty of what’s down here. I truly believe it’s the heart of Barrie.”
Baker bought the business the year after her cancer diagnosis when she felt well. She went through treatment again in 2018, followed by another bout in 2020, which has led to many treatment options.
Now she’s back in chemotherapy.
“It just seems like I need to finally acknowledge this companion that walks alongside me and really give it the attention it needs and give me the opportunity to relieve myself of some stress and some worry, spend more time with me and my family,” she says.
For Baker, ZuZu is "a walking, breathing, evolving, constantly changing entity” that she refers to as a she.
Baker, who moved to Barrie as a six-year-old in 1968, worked in business development for many years and moved back to her hometown in 2011 to be with her family.
The following year, ZuZu was founded and Baker discovered a connection with the shop and started to work there. She purchased the business in 2015 and says it’s been pure joy.
But it has also been a roller-coaster. First came the downtown redevelopment, which involved a great deal of construction along Dunlop Street.
Then came COVID-19.
Finding a need to maintain a connection with her clients during the pandemic shutdowns, Baker stumbled across Facebook Live and began hosting events, which she continues to do, although less frequently since reopening. To her surprise, sales followed and she happily drove all over town, delivering purchases.
It was a great alternative to online sales, which she says has never appealed to her. It’s that human connection she finds is an important element to what she does.
Baker brought that energy to her community, joining the Downtown BIA board of 12 people as one of only three women and representing the core’s retail side.
BIA project manager Kristen Eatch says Baker saw the bigger picture during her two terms and the need for the group to work together toward a greater goal. And she did it with a view from outside the box, bringing along some creative flair.
Whenever the BIA hosted an event, Baker would want to tie in the involvement of charities and other organizations.
She championed the cigarette recycling program downtown, which saw the installation of long, rectangular tubes for butts.
Puppy parades developed from Baker’s connection to her charity of choice — COPE Service Dogs.
“She’s a community leader whether she’s on the board or not,” says Eatch, who has worked closely with the retailer over the years. “She participates in all the events, the connection is still strong. We can always count on her to be part of it all.”
Baker says she’ll miss being an active member of the downtown commercial community, because she sees a continuing evolution.
Although there’s a fine collection of shops, restaurants and businesses and a growing population with the ongoing development of condominium complexes, she believes it still desperately needs a grocery store and other elements such as a pharmacy and a butcher shop.
And while many visitors adore the charm of the city's core, she would love to see that kind of appreciation come from everyone within the community as well.
“Visitors who come to our downtown think it’s beautiful. The waterfront is stunning, they love the little shops that are down here and the friendliness of the people,” she says. “It’s interesting that people who are not familiar with our community appreciate it so much.”
For Baker, it’s been about sharing her joy of both her community and her business and the opportunities they present.
Now, she says it’s time for someone else to step in and take advantage of what downtown has to offer and build upon that.
“Having this shop has provided me with so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had,” Baker says.
