During her maternity leave, Sarah McGuire, was struggling to find ethically-produced, well-designed, baby toys and clothing. She wanted to fill her baby’s nursery with things that fit her values. But options were limited in Brockville. “I was having to order them all online and ship them from overseas,” says McGuire. Her first thought was to open an online store but then she came across a vacant storefront in downtown Brockville.

“My husband and I saw an empty shop downtown, we talked about it and said, you know what, let’s just do the whole thing,” says McGuire.

It felt a bit impulsive at the time but when they started to dig in on the business plan, there was a strong case for opening their shop, Luella Charlotte Baby Boutique. The only places in town with baby toys and clothing were chains and didn’t carry the type of unique, small-run products McGuire wanted to sell. And with an influx of tourists during the summer festival season, McGuire felt confident in her vision.

“There was really a gap,” she says. As she was building out the idea, McGuire came across the My Main Street Local Business Accelerator program. My Main Street aims to revitalize business communities through hands-on support and is funded with a $23.25-million Government of Canada investment through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and delivered by the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO).

Photo by: David Simon, Sandbox Photovideo

Through the program, McGuire accessed in-depth market research on the demographics, interests and social media use in Brockville. “The market research helped to solidify that what we're doing was right and we were going to have some success with it.”

The data pointed to a large demographic of retirees in the area. “That's really who our target customer is because new parents aren't necessarily going to spend a lot of money, they’re going to try and save money where they can,” she says. “But the grandparents who have their mortgage paid off and don’t have a lot of other expenses are going to spoil their grandbabies.”

Luella Charlotte Baby Boutique opened in 2022 with her target demographic in mind. She was able to use a $10,000 non-repayable contribution from My Main Street for startup costs including inventory and a portion of the business’s first month’s rent. “We have such a huge space so we put a lot of focus on making it feel full because we didn’t want to lose trust in people coming in going, oh, there's nothing in that shop.”

The funding had a trickle-down effect on the first-time entrepreneur’s business strategy. “Because I had the funds for inventory, I was able to spend some other money on different avenues of advertising.”

Photo by: David Simon, Sandbox Photovideo

McGuire experimented with social media advertisements and more traditional platforms like radio and print in order to see which connected well with her target customer base. She says her decision-making was often informed by the market research data from My Main Street.

“There was data about how much people spent in what areas, one of them being apparel (and) gifting and gift cards were key points so we made sure to get branded gift cards,” she says. The market research also pointed out that people from the area have a tendency to see something and come back for it at a later date. For McGuire, it was a critical data point, one that calmed her nerves and helped inform her approach to sales as a first-time business owner. “It’s given me the confidence that what I'm putting on the shelves is something that's wanted and valued by people… I didn't just purchase a bunch of stuff willy-nilly that's not going to sell.”

She says it’s shaped the way she runs the shop, emphasizing building connections with her customers – an element that she hopes will drive the store’s success. “I like to develop good relationships with my customers,” she says. “And then they come back time and time again.”

About My Main Street

My Main Street is a $23.25-million Government of Canada investment through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) to support the recovery and revitalization of main streets and local businesses in southern Ontario. The Canadian Urban Institute and the Economic Developers Council of Ontario have partnered to deliver My Main Street through two program streams. Learn more at www.mymainstreet.ca.

About FedDev Ontario

For 13 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.