Archive News from Digital Main Street

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 like wild foods and natural, plant-based products.

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 the five-year mark. But last winter, it started to feel too far away.

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 to expand his line of popcorn three years ago to include 13 flavours. It’s given him the inertia to break into fundraising with schools and teams in the festival off-season and during the winter. It’s been stable. Lucrative, even. But then the pandemic happened and made big groups impossible.

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.

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 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 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, live sessions, and topics such as reimagining customer service, going from brick and mortar to digital, and much more.

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.

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.

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.