Clearly I need to spend more time over at the mall. A new, rather fun sounding store opened there over the summer and this is the first I’m hearing of it.
The Local opened on Saturday in Fairview Park Mall, bringing together about 80 Canadian vendors in one space.
Co-owners Lorenz and Rizzy Manaig started the store to help vendors build their businesses at a local scale.
They say their inspiration for the store drew on personal experience in a “super competitive” online market.
Rizzy started her own online business in 2018, and found online platforms like Etsy often force vendors to lower their prices, due to the high competition with international sellers.
“We want to bridge that gap between, How do we help a vendor scale up their products? and also, How do we help them be confident with their pricing?” Lorenz told CBC News.With tariffs forcing some vendors to close their online businesses, Lorenz says local vendors need another option.
The new spot in Kitchener is their third (they opened stores in London and Port Stanley last year), so I’m guessing things must be going reasonably well.
I’ll be checking it out for sure. I imagine it coming in especially handy come Christmas time, but I love the concept and hope it does great all year long.