From the moment Ranelle Larocque opened Queen Bee Millinery on Perth’s Gore Street East, she always envisioned creating a destination business around her award-winning headpiece designs.

Clients travel from all over to visit Larocque’s tiny boutique and workshop in Perth to discuss gravity-defying hat design over tea. Afterward, they often find their way to the neighbouring shops along the heritage building-lined main street, says Larocque. “I’ll recommend checking out a spot for lunch and shopping in town,” she says. “So it’s not even just about my spot – it’s about a day…an experience.”

Larocque opened the shop in 2020, but she’d been selling the hats online since she moved to Perth in 2018 alongside her husband, who’s in the military. Larocque began posting her designs to Instagram, catching the attention of her fellow military spouses.

“Somebody would say, ‘sold’, and I would mail it off to them to wear to military parades,” says Larocque. “That's how my clientele got to be worldwide…Canadian families are posted all around the world.”

Today, Larocque is a rising star in the hat-making world. Queen Bee Millinery is the official milliner for the prestigious 2024 King’s Plate thoroughbred race and her designs have been worn at the Royal Ascot, the Kentucky Derby and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday garden party.

As her custom design base has grown, so has her need to elevate the experience surrounding her destination business and bring more people to her tiny boutique in Perth. For years she had wanted to upgrade her studio space and shop but resources were always a barrier.

Larocque saw an opportunity in the form of support from My Main Street. The program aims to strengthen businesses, boost productivity and revitalize main streets.My Main Street is delivered by the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI), and supported by a Government of Canada investment through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

“I had been working in an eight-by-ten-foot space at the back of my shop,” says Larocque. “With this support, one of the first things I was able to do was expand the studio space.”

Larocque redesigned the space for more storage and an expanded worktop, investing in specialized millinery tools to improve her productivity. Next on her list was the business’ facade. “Perth is a 200-plus-year-old town and my particular part of the building used to be an alleyway,” she says. “When you're selling a high-end product, – the storefront must reflect the quality of the work.”

The redesign, which includes an updated flower box made by a local woodworker and a fresh coat of paint, will help draw customers in while adding to the charm of Gore Street East.

The support has allowed Larocque to explore new opportunities and bring her ideas to life.

She explains, “Running a storefront involves a lot of moving parts, from upgrading my studio to managing equipment, and the facade was something I hadn't been able to focus on. This support has given me the chance to enhance the space, provide a better experience for my customers and contribute to the beautification of downtown.”