In mid-July, the charity known as Free the Children rebranded and became WE. Co-founder Craig Kielburger explained, “With millions of passionate change-makers involved in our programs, we have come to the decision that now is the right time to unify all of our work under one name.” A few days later, the charity made another exciting announcement, this one giving all of their supporters a great excuse to head out to the mall.

The first full-time WE retail store opened its doors to the public on July 28 at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre, bringing together all the socially conscious ME to WE products that changemaking fashionistas know and love, such as rafikis and gorgeous jewellery from the Atelier line, as well as opportunities to take the WE Pledge and learn more about the charity’s various initiatives. Every purchase made supports WE Charity’s partner communities, giving a child or family a life-changing gift such as school supplies, health care or clean water.

Although ME to WE products have been sold in the past out of WE’s downtown headquarters and a pop-up store at Yorkdale Mall, this CF Toronto Eaton Centre store location comes out of a new partnership between Cadillac Fairview and the charity aimed at inspiring and empowering youth to take action and become changemakers in their local and global communities. It also marks the first time Cadillac Fairview has donated long-term leasing to a charitable partner.

As an experiential hub, one of the store’s coolest features is its interactive digital walls that allow shoppers to track their impact and even get a tour of a ME to WE trip using virtual reality goggles.

To celebrate the store’s launch, actress, singer and WE supporter Bridgit Mendler was on hand to meet and greet fans and partake in random acts of WE with some WE volunteers. To match the positive spirit of the WE movement, Bridgit and the WE volunteers helped open doors for shoppers throughout the mall, passed out notes with kind sentiments and gave out high-fives.

“By doing Random Acts of WE, the ripple effect of good vibes will be felt throughout the community as people are inspired to pay it forward,” said WE’s public relations co-ordinator, Kayla Ciaschi.

Hopefully, these next steps in the WE movement, such as the new WE store, continuous random acts of WE and upcoming WE Day celebrations, will motivate youth to be the change and make the world a little less about ME and a lot more about WE.

(Header Photo Credit: Gilda Furgiuele/WE)