Archive News from Digital Main Street

With its swath of heritage buildings and picturesque location alongside the Rideau river lock system, it’s no surprise Merrickville-Wolford has become a haven for artists and craftspeople. The small community and neighbouring villages of just over 3,000 people are home to more than 30 artisans, an element of intrigue that draws throngs of tourists every year. It’s also drawn a throng of entrepreneurial retirees looking to get out of the big city and slow down.

“People are bored out of their minds, I guess, so they are painting anything and everything,” says Gauthier. Her shop, in Earlton, just north of New Liskeard, specializes in DIY kits and supplies, paints, and virtually anything you’d need for projects around the home.

“Looking at my numbers in the last two weeks,” says the Deja Vu Boutik owner, “I’ve been selling six times more paint than I usually do.”

Creemore artist and entrepreneur darci-que does everything. Really, no exaggeration. She does everything. Of course, there’s art: “I draw every day of my life.” But there’s also the Hillview Cellars Winery shop. And the series of children books she’s written. And QUE balloon bouquets. And darci-que cakes. And the princess party planning. And the bed and breakfast. And the greeting card line.

Michael Carrier felt a bit out of place applying for Digital Main Street. From the outside, it seemed to Carrier like the program, which leverages grants and one-to-one support from the Province of Ontario to help main street businesses across Ontario strengthen their digital and online capabilities, was geared towards people with little-to-no digital literacy.

Carol Lacher had been working as a manager at a kitchenware shop in downtown Oakville for 15 years when the owner announced she was retiring.

Dominique Tremblay has slotted social media nicely in that space between her daily coffee ritual and opening Back to the Grind, her coffee house in Kapuskasing.

“It's the first thing I do in the morning when I get up,” says the café owner. “I get all my posts ready for the day and I have it ready to go an hour before I open.”

Atlas Yoga Studio has been a twenty-year balancing act for Denise Davis-Gains. She’s built her life this way – trying to find some sense of symmetry through deliberation. Case in point: the choice to create Atlas Yoga Studio in the Cambridge community of Galt rather than an area with a more established yoga scene was meant to keep her close to her family and balance personal life with her career.

When Kincardine kicked off Digital Main Street it had a unique advantage, neighbouring Huron-Kinloss township and Goderich, a lakeside town further south, had already piloted the program in their communities.

The WindsorEssex Small Business Centre knew its plan for Digital Main Street was ambitious. It had just launched a Digital Service Squad through the program which combines grants and one-to-one support from the Province of Ontario to help main street businesses strengthen their online capabilities.

Sales are down for Thunder Bay’s Mars Clothing Co. and the world is still living through a global pandemic, but all things considered, store owner James Nigro is feeling pretty good.