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Campbellford’s Frog’s Whiskers Ink and Kerr’s Corner Books find new perspective on digital tools 

by Andrew Seale   |   February 08, 2023   |   Share this:  

To Tom and Rose-Marie Kerr, owners of a custom stamp shop Frog’s Whiskers Ink and Kerr’s Corner Books in Campbellford, adaption is fundamental. For nearly 25 years, the pair have closely watched the subtle shifts in their customer’s shopping patterns. “We’re always changing which is one of the reasons why we’re still in business,” says Kerr. “We learned to be fluid a long time ago.” 

For Kerr, it comes from his background as a dairy farmer. That was Kerr’s life before opening Kerr’s Corner Books. Rose-Marie, a trained seamstress, ran a craft store before starting the stamp shop. Today, the businesses sit side-by-side, eclectic yet somehow compatible in their offering. Kerr is known for his ability to track down rare and obscure books and Rose-Marie has more than 7,000 stamp styles on offer. “It’s a unique business,” says Kerr of Frog’s Whiskers Ink. “Now we sell retail and wholesale but because of COVID a good lot of our wholesale accounts… the stores are just gone.”  

 

Both businesses are in the midst of a digital reinvention accelerated by the pandemic. Kerr says their websites are in need of an update, though the Kerr’s Corner Books website is running smoothly. In 2022, the businesses got a lift when they connected with Digital Main Street, a program which combines grants and one-to-one support from the Province of Ontario alongside partners to help main street businesses strengthen their online capabilities and plan for the digital future. Kerr applied for a $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant and received it alongside some digital training. “It's helped us change our perspective… retail has to be totally rewritten now,” he says. “What we thought would work is now changed.”   

 

With help from the grant and digital training, Kerr says they’ve been able to make strategic decisions surrounding both businesses’ digital presence. Part of that was investing in the production space the built for creating video content. “For us, it's quite a studio… it can go back and forth between two cameras as you’re filming,” says Kerr. He’s also learned to use video recording and editing software. “We’ve got five videos out there right now,” he says. The majority of the videos are classes that would often be taught within the business but are now available virtually. “We’re also gonna have a set up to do interviews with authors…”  

 

In addition to creating video content, the businesses also have their own e-newsletter. “The bookstore is done every week and the rubber stamp division is every other week retail and about once a month we do a wholesale newsletter,” says Kerr. “Every time I put out an e-newsletter we get an increase in sales.” 

 

Kerr says he and Rose-Marie plan to continue to adapt their businesses as their customers grow and change. “I picked up a lot of stuff the (Digital Main Street) program,” he says. 

 

If you're looking for your next read, check out Kerr's Corner Books! Or, if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind rubber stamp, visit Frog's Whiskers Ink

To learn more about how Digital Main Street can help your business, please visit here

About Digital Main Street

Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.

Continued investment from the Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (MEDJCT) has allowed the ongoing expansion the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses going digital across Ontario.

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