Phil Cox, owner of Kind of Magic, first became interested in magic when he was a child living in Lincolnshire, England with his family. When he was six, his family took a summer holiday out to a small beachside resort town called Humberston, and there was a magic show advertised in the main town square. As Cox and the other kids waited in anticipation for the show to start, the magician poked his head out of his van.
“Sorry, lads, shows cancelled today,” the magician said.
“And that was my first magic show. And for some reason, I was like; ‘I’d never do that to somebody.’ If somebody wants to see a trick, I’ll always show them a trick. I got into magic so that no other kid would be disappointed like that,” Cox said.
Kind of Magic opened its doors on Feb. 14, 2006, in the space beside Princess Twin Cinemas, where the Annex is now located. As the store gained popularity, it expanded into the downstairs area where the Truth Beauty Company now resides. Six years after opening, they needed a bigger location and the opportunity to merge with two well-known Waterloo businesses was presented to Cox.
In 2006, Mavis Theatrical Supply became a subsidiary of Seams like Magic and began operating in the lower level of 321 Weber St. N. Mavis Theatrical Supply started in the basement of Mavis Boorman in 1976 and served the Waterloo Region and beyond for over 30 years. Seams Like Magic started in 1995 and belonged to local costume designer, part-time clown and balloon artist Shirley Bunce. In July of 2012, Kind of Magic became three stores in one–taking over Seams Like Magic / Mavis Theatrical Supplies’ 4,500 square foot facility on Weber St. N. and becoming the region’s one-stop shop for magic, juggling, costumes and theatrical supplies.
They supply costumes to many theater companies from Niagara to Drayton as well as Stratford. In 2015, Kind of Magic expanded their makeup offerings to include their own brand of face and body paint called Cheek FX.
“One of the problems we had with the major face paint lines is they weren’t labelled in French and English. Any cosmetic product in Canada sold retail has to have French and English on it, so we invented our own line… [And now] we have stores in British Columbia all the way to Conception Bay, Newfoundland [carrying it],” Cox said.
Cox’s creativity and tenacity have kept the business going despite the many storms the business has weathered. From battling with the City of Waterloo’s antiquated zoning bylaws to stay on their Weber St. location in 2013, to Cox’s diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in 2015, to fighting the online giants and pop-up American Halloween stores, to the frustrating shipping limitations that require Canadian small businesses to pay the duties before the item has even been shipped to the United States, they’ve been through it all. And Cox’s dedication to his customers and the wider Waterloo Region community remains unmatched.
“We had a costume going out west last week, and we opened it up to inspect it before sending it on to the buyer. Sure enough, the factory seams were terrible, and it was going to fall apart. I took it home and pulled out my sewing machine, and I looked at [my wife] and said, ‘Here I am, at 60 years old, sewing a little girl’s dress at 10 o’clock in the morning.’ We do whatever we can,” Cox said.
In 2019, Kind of Magic brought on Jeremiah Sharpe, a local entertainer and magician who grew up going to Cox’s shop. Between the help of Sharpe and Cox’s daughter, Sarah, the two do their best to offer a younger perspective and predict what will be popular in October when the shop orders its Halloween costumes in February. Sarah and Sharpe have also grown the shop’s custom offerings from 3D-printed accessories for cosplayers and Halloween fanatics alike as well as custom-made silicon pieces.
The shop is a one-stop shop as they will demonstrate how to apply costume make-up, special effects and contacts; demonstrate how magic tricks are done; provide costumes for a costume party and even keep track of each guest’s costume, so no two people show up in the same outfit.
“We just want to share what we do, and we want to see kids with smiles on their faces. There’s nothing better you can do in this life than just bring a smile to other people’s faces. Whether it be finding the perfect costume, making them look all gory or sending them home with an easy magic trick that they can do,” Cox said.
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