Case Studies from Digital Main Street

Digital Main Street has compiled a list of tools, how-to guides and tutorials available to assist all main street business in embracing digital technology. You can find information on: how to build your online presence, using social media effectively, paid advertising, and much more.

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Thornbury’s Rocky Shores Health and Wellness takes hub online

Over the past decade things have gotten decidedly less odd for Angela Klein, founder of Rocky Shores Health and Wellness in Thornbury. Rather, the world has changed its definition of odd, helping spur interest in the products and services Klein’s been drawn to for more than a decade – things ...

E-commerce gives Lakeside Livin’ room to grow

When Rose Luxton opened Lakeside Livin’ Home Decor in the heart of Oakville’s Bronte Village BIA two and a half years ago, she knew it was just the start – in a decades time there’d be more shops, maybe even dotting the country. E-commerce was written into the plan, at ...

What’s Poppin’ finds bigger kettle online

What’s Poppin’ likes big groups. Festivals, events, fundraisers – whatever it is, the more people the better. For the past 12 years since Jeff Gamble started his Windsor-based popcorn business, the festival circuit has been his key revenue driver. And it’s been good to him. It’s helped set him up ...

Hamilton brings digital tools to main street businesses

Hamilton is a big city. And across that city which stretches from Ancaster to Waterdown, Dundas to Stoney Creek, are 13 BIAs, each representing a unique neighbourhood with legacy businesses and new entrepreneurs side-by-side. But there’s a common underlying goal, thriving and evolving in this increasingly digital age.

Kaizen Physiotherapy Group goes virtual with help of Digital Main Street

Physiotherapy is an inherently physical thing – it requires a one-to-one connection between the client and a physiotherapist, a hands-on approach. Or so it seems. But as Rosa Maria Echevarria, owner of Kaizen Physiotherapy Group in Etobicoke has learned amidst the pandemic, it can be whatever you make it.

Kawartha Lakes two-tiered approach to Digital Main Street

Kawartha Lakes is a city in name only. Geographically, it’s the size of a county and mostly made up of a collection of lakes and rural areas and towns and communities like Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls and Omemee.

Facebook launches Summer of Support and Online Business Guide

Facebook is kicking off a new free initiative called Summer of Support, designed to help business owners get the digital skills and information needed to navigate these challenging times. The program launched June 24th, and will run for six weeks, and feature a mix of content including free online training, ...

Belleville’s Downtown District goes Digital amidst coronavirus

Belleville Downtown District BIA had been toying with the idea of launching a digital marketplace as a gateway to shopping at local business online for a little while but the shutdown forced them to fast-track their strategy.

Main street Toronto businesses are stepping up to help frontline healthcare workers

Mount Pleasant BIA's Bread and Butter Restaurant, Dew Haus, Positano, Mason's Fine Foods, Bolan Thai, and The Flaky Tart have all banded together to offer up meals to the frontline healthcare workers.

Minto and Hanover show main street businesses that less is more

The digital environment offers small businesses a seemingly unending string of places to be – there’s e-commerce and social media, Google’s business listings and review aggregators like Yelp. But there’s something to be said for not getting lost in it all and instead focusing on doing a few channels right.

For Perth’s Where Dragons Fly being adaptive means being online

Nancy Lanouette spent thirty years as a project manager at a major telecommunications company before moving to Perth and opening Where Dragons Fly, an essential oils and supply shop for DIY health, beauty and home care. She’d loved her career and chasing her passion surrounding DIY was the perfect comedown ...

C’est La Vie Wellness leverages digital to educate clients both online and in-person

In the holistic health and wellness space where trust forms the backbone of every interaction, being an expert in the field isn’t enough. Clients want to know you, they want to know your philosophy and where your values lie.

Why Sagrario Pilates Studio gave social media a second chance

Sagrario Castilla has been teaching Pilates for nearly 30 years. And for the better part of three decades, she’s thrived on simple systems and word of mouth. It’s served her well and made Sagrario Pilates Studio a mainstay in Toronto’s Church Wellesley Village long before all the fitness trends of ...

Boardwalk Board Game Lounge takes new school approach to old school fun

Digital Main Street one-to-one support gives T-Elle owner confidence

In the age of fast fashion and e-commerce Lien Vu’s T-Elle Boutique is a rarity. For 35 years, Vu’s quietly filled the racks of her women’s clothing shop in downtown Peterborough with season after season of designer fashion for women, a curated collection of high-end clothing that wouldn’t be out ...

Trenton boosts Downtown BIA engagement with Digital Main Street

For Lisa Kuypers-Schroedter bringing Digital Main Street to Trenton’s Downtown BIA seemed like an easy sell. The program aims to help main street businesses strengthen their online capabilities. After hearing about it and sitting in on a few talks, she figured it was time to export the concept to Trenton ...

Bruce Peninsula Boat Tours build deeper connections through digital channels

Three or four times a year, Donna Stewart, owner of Bruce Peninsula Boat Tours, sends an update called Tour News to her 700-strong email list. But the one this past fall was different, this time around she took a more candid and personal approach.

For Millpond Records and Books selling online gets people through the door

Colin Robertson and Christine Schmalz had only been living in the village of Hespeler for a little while when they heard local favourite Millpond Records and Books was closing down. So they did what any sensible couple with a growing family and careers in full swing (Schmalz in agriculture policy ...

Stoney Creek’s Sprinkles on Top offers sweet deals via social media

Once a day, Sprinkles on Top tea room, bakery and ice cream parlour in Stoney Creek, plays the name game. The premise is simple: the shop posts a name on their social media and anyone with that name can come in and get a free scoop. No caveats, just a ...

Full Circle Foods using digitization to boost wages

When you love something, you save it and Full Circle Foods, a sustainability-minded grocery store in downtown Kitchener, was much-loved. So when the old owners pinned a hand-scribbled “for sale” sign to the store’s community board, Sam Nabi and Julia Gogoleva alongside 22 community lenders did what they needed to ...

Shantee Healing uses Digital Main Street to create space for clients to unplug

Jas Dhillon had always envisioned a serene space where people could gather to heal, a space delivering natural therapies, products, and services while putting into practice a career-worth of learning surrounding holistic health like energy healing, psychic guidance, and spiritual and personal empowerment.

Old Town Kemptville takes new school approach to main street

Voice2Net picks up the connection with digital presence

Kemptville’s To Be Continued consignment expands its online presence with help from Digital Main Street

Olive’s Oddments goes online to get around Locke Street construction in Hamilton

With Hamilton’s Locke Street under construction, Thompson has seen an unprecedented interruption to that foot traffic. “We've been in business 35 years and this is the worst year we've ever experienced as far as traffic flow.”

Lift Lock Escape taps Digital Main Street to decipher the labyrinth of social media analytics

“You wanna reach more people, ” says Wallwork. “And the only way to do that is advertising and the other forms of advertising have had zero success, so to be able to up our digital presence is huge.”

Ottawa’s Trendy Glebe Neighbourhood Invests in Digital Future

Tucked in the elbow of the Rideau Canal, Ottawa’s the Glebe neighbourhood is a unique enclave. It boasts a historic butcher, baker and candlestick maker style main street alongside a world class entertainment complex and urban park. It’s that diversity that keeps the business community there tight, a neighbourhood set ...

Why Molly Bloom’s and Revival House Owner Rob Wigan Swears by Social

Rob Wigan may have been an early adopter to Facebook but with the pace of change in social media, Wigan says it’s never too late for small ma and pa shops to get on board and build their digital presence.

Legacy Greens Uses Digital to Diversify Beyond the Farm

Kitchener greengrocer Legacy Greens has leveraged digital to diversify its offering and experiment with new formats like subscription produce boxes and seasonal online shops.

Goderich Rebounds: Turning Tragedy Into an Opportunity for Transformation

Bailey Regier, the DSS Team Lead, says the BIA had already pulled together an inventory on where businesses were at in terms of digital literacy before she started going out to the community. There was a sense amongst many that having a digital presence was a necessary evil. But ...

How Main Street Oakville is Embracing the Digital Age

“One of the most important challenges facing small business in the Town of Oakville is their ability to embrace the digital age. It’s vital for business today to adapt and become familiar with digital technology, ” said Stephen Crawford, MPP for Oakville.

Midland Brings Businesses Online as Main Street Faces Disruption From Construction

Next year, Midland’s King Street, one of the town’s key arteries will undergo a massive redesign, disrupting the flow of the downtown core and the businesses that drive the local economy. It’s a big change for the community, one the Downtown Midland Business Improvement Area has been hoping to offset by fixing up the alleyways, putting ...

Stratford Shop Owner Utilizes Street Art + Digital Strategy Providing a Surprising Moment of Resonance

#resonancestreetart – Claire Scott's colourful mural was designed to create an accessible moment of connection

How Belle River Plans to Get All It's Businesses On The Map

It was Janel Gagnier, coordinator of the Belle River On The Lake BIA, that first convinced the board to take up the Digital Main Street initiative. “Right away I knew it was a good thing and I knew it would benefit the businesses in our community, ” says Gagnier. She admits she came down ...

Peterborough’s Digital Main Street Squad Keeps Main Street Diverse

By zeroing in on individual business owner’s digital needs, the Peterborough Digital Main Street squad has managed to enlist 51 of the downtown core’s businesses into the program so far.

Belleville Uses Digital Main Street to Get Hidden Gems On the Map

In the hotels of Quinte Region around Belleville, kiosks guide visitors to the hidden gems that locals and those in-the-know frequent. Unfortunately, if you’re not on Trip Advisor and Google My Business, you’re apt to stay hidden.

Eat Local Pizza’s Digital Differentiator 🍕

Eat Local Pizza founder Jim Stadey was on the cusp of getting out of the business when he realized he had been going about it all wrong: it wasn’t just about differentiating his pizzas, he had to differentiate his brand.

Digital Main Street piques interest in cities like Kitchener-Waterloo, Port Hope, Hamilton, and Thunder Bay

As the Digital Main Street initiative proliferates through Ontario, economic centres like Kitchener-Waterloo, Port Hope, Hamilton, and Thunder Bay are re-energizing local main street businesses with digital tools.

How Mary’s Brigadeiro's Flagship Shop Drove Online Sales

After several years selling in markets and through e-commerce, Mary’s Brigadeiro opened its flagship location on the Danforth. Strangely enough, the new physical spot boosted online sales.

A tale of two cinemas: Toronto’s Fox Theatre and Kitchener’s Apollo Cinema

Inspired by their love of cinema, Daniel Demois and Andy Willick revitalized two aging theatres – the Fox Theatre in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood and the Apollo Cinema in Kitchener – drawing in moviegoers with a blend of classic, contemporary and cult hits. Now they’re refining their digital approach to connecting ...

Steve’s Quality Meats and Deli combines old world experience with digital-savvy branding

Inspired by the Danforth’s European roots, Steve’s Quality Meats and Deli takes an old school approach to custom cuts and classic Italian takeaway fare. But it’s their digital strategy that’s helped them connect with their community.

Etobicoke Service Centre’s Bill Massis on his Sunday night review ritual

Bill Massis discovered Google reviews three years ago during a website rebrand for his vacuum cleaner repair and sales business Etobicoke Service Centre. While he was hesitant at first, a study showing consumers view Google reviews the same way they see referrals from friends convinced him otherwise.

Marlborough’s has found a way to beat Amazon at its own game

As one of the longest standing businesses in the Bloor West Village area, Marlborough’s has become a symbol of Bloor West Village’s continuous innovation amidst the changing retail environment.

Flexday’s mission to turn restaurants into beautiful co-working spaces

With an eye on disrupting the commute, Toronto start-up Flexday is working with restaurants to transform them into fully-outfitted co-working space during the daytime hours and bring more business through the doors.

Supercoffee uses digital footprint to entice out-of-towners to Mount Dennis neighbourhood

Drawing from her filmmaking background, Supercoffee owner Cassandra Nicolaou treats her business like an ongoing production, constantly striving to find new ways to engage customers. Digital media has played a major role.

The Petite Alternative puts sincerity at centre of digital strategy

After 30 years in the fashion industry specializing in clothes for shorter women, The Petite Alternative shop owner Connie Gougos knows that staying relevant means reading the trends – whether that’s fashion itself or the way consumers are buying clothes.

FloorPlay Socks Expands Retail Footprint

Toronto-based retailer FloorPlay Socks has found a successful niche in a basic everyday item. The company sells socks – and only socks – and that narrow focus has helped FloorPlay stand out from its competitors and become an authority in the market.

The Belgian Chocolate Shop combines traditional handcrafting with new school storytelling

For the past 34 years, The Belgian Chocolate Shop has worked its way into the hearts of Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood. Now it’s developing a digital strategy to grow beyond.

Mastercard’s Masterpass tackles small business painpoints

After a restaurant client identified pain points surrounding the time it took for clients to get and pay their bill, Mastercard developed Qkr, the pay-at-table app to streamline the process and help small businesses do what they do best without the hang up.

Irish Design House brings old country artisanal wares to Toronto

For the past three years Irish designer Sinéad Clarke, has been introducing Toronto’s Riverside neighbourhood to artisanal wares from back home through the Irish Design House and her own label FADA. Now, using a knowledge-base built through Digital Main Street, Clarke is taking a digital first approach to expanding across ...

Why On the Other Hand leans heavily on authenticity with its social strategy

After a decade and a half under the umbrella of other retailers, jewelry-maker Karen MacRae and master goldsmith Sabrina Melendez struck out on their own to build On the Other Hand, a new shop in Leslieville focused on high-end jewelry. But growing their footprint will require a social strategy built ...

Kanga Pies uses digital to get customers through the door and keep them coming back

For the past four years Megan Chan and Erin Mayes have built a small empire in Toronto around the Australian meat pie. Kanga Pie’s secret recipe for success: a steady dose of Instagram content and a smart-phone friendly environment where customers can charge up their devices or order take away ...

How Queenie’s Cards made the move from online to brick and mortar

After seven years running Queenie’s Cards online, Queenie Best decided to open a physical brick and mortar location on the Danforth. Thanks to her digital tools like Instagram, Square and her e-commerce website, the transition was smooth, giving her the freedom to expand her offerings.

Waterfront BIA Leverages AP1 Tech to Bring Torontonians Shore-Side in Winter

Toronto’s waterfront can bean icy place in the winter which is why the BIA partnered with local startup AP1 to leverage innovative proximity technology and a scavenger hunt application to get Torontonians out during the most unforgiving months.

Anycard brings e-gift cards to Digital Main Street

The gift card market has been dominated by malls and big box stores but startup Anycard is looking to level the playing field, giving main street businesses a platform for selling their own electronic gift cards.

teaBOT grows its robot empire one cup of tea at a time

For teaBOT there’s no better home base than Toronto: international tea drinkers, long winters and an inherent sociability. But that hasn’t kept the Toronto-based startup from expanding its robot army beyond the ecosystem here to cities like Palo Alto and Chicago.

A Spiffy New Way to Boost Alcohol Sales and Improve Restaurant Guest Experience

When we visit restaurants, there are more wine, spirit, and craft beer options than ever before. You won’t hear complaints from the growing number of craft connoisseurs, but it can make it difficult for restaurant operators to keep their whole team up to speed. The good news? There’s an app ...

West Queen West hooks the neighbourhood up with free wi-fi

As of May, the West Queen West Business Improvement Area has connected the neighbourhood between Bathurst and Ossington with free wi-fi. While Rob Sysak, executive director of the BIA, says he excited about being a first mover, he envisions a future where all neighbourhoods offer the service.

Carptor makes local food locatable

With growing emphasis on the social, environmental and economical benefits of buying local food, Toronto entrepreneurs John Cowie and Rob Elms have developed Carptor, a web and mobile database for finding local food wherever you are.

Toronto’s A-Game Café thrives off the interplay between nostalgia and technology

Amongst a swath of board game cafés opening in Toronto, A-Game Café keeps the feeling down to earth by letting the technology do its work behind the scenes.

PeopleFlow pilot keep tabs on returning shoppers in Bloor West Village

Leveraging high speed networks and the proliferation of mobile devices, Bloor West Village and PeopleFlow have teamed up to track mobile movement, better understand who’s shopping in the area and figure out how to make the area more attractive to visitors.

Inside Little White Sneakers, a designer consignment store for kids

Mini Case Study

Peter Pan Bistro treads the line between Queen Street’s past and a digital future

“When I did my pop up and I talked about the idea of opening a restaurant for six months on the second floor of a bar with no storefront, ” he says. “50 years ago people only knew you by walking by your store looking in your window and ...

Lumicrest enlightens art galleries and retailers, near and far

Partners David Geldart and Mieke Geldart have taken their online LED lighting businesses and created a Parkdale-neighbourhood storefront to help educate customers on how the complex system works.

Fresh Collective keeps their community looking good with the help of digital tools

Case Study: How Fresh Collective uses Digital Tools to increase in-store sales

FloorPlay Socks uses social media to expand their global footprint from their shop on Queen West

Case Study: How Social Media has helped this store sell globally

Toronto Tees – Behind the Business with Owner Joe Taylor

You can get t-shirts almost anywhere, it’s true. But a custom shirt…in five minutes?

Shopify Case Study - SoYoung Inc.

Marketing begins with product design. Unless you have a truly unique product, it will be very hard to differentiate and gain brand traction, especially online.

Case Studies from Digital Main Street

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