Whether you need a haircut, you’re looking for ways to combat stress in your life, you want a special cut of meat, or you need professional head shots, you can get all of these things and much, much more, right here in Quesnel.
Small Town Love is a book project that aims to connect people with the faces behind the counters at their favourite local businesses, while also giving back to the community as a fundraising initiative and offering coupons for local shopper. It contains profiles of each local business and its owner(s) that have contributed to the book, sharing their stories and their businesses, as well as a coupon for each business. The books will be sold in the businesses profiled, as well as by local fundraising groups.
The idea behind this, says creative editor and fellow local business owner Amy Quarry, is to foster a sense of camaraderie between Quesnel business owners and the customers who patronize those businesses. Putting a face and a story to each business helps remind people who live here we’re all neighbors and we need each other to thrive. She has also committed that any profits from the project will be spent at independent and local businesses.
All of the business owners who participated in the project were enthusiastic about this new venture, which they hope will give them better local exposure and help people understand how important their dollars are to Quesnel’s economy. The book features a wide variety of local small businesses and owners, including retailers, service providers, health and alternative health care practitioners, crafters and even home businesses. Each business has also contributed a coupon offer in the book, adding up to more than $1,500 in savings in the 50 local businesses that are profiled.
Quarry hopes this will be the first of many Small Town Love editions to be printed, perhaps becoming an annual or bi-annual publication. She also hopes personalizing Quesnel businesses will encourage locals to spend their money where it will make the most difference to them: right in their own community. Of course, offering coupons doesn’t hurt, either.
Quarry has also launched a Small Town Love Website. The Website will act as a tool which Quesnel residents can use to find out about local businesses or to search for a local supplier of a particular product or service. The Website features many of the businesses that appear in the Small Town Love book, as well as other information to help locals decide how to best spend their dollars.
Small Town Love will be available for purchase in more than 20 locations throughout Quesnel, as well as online, and at the Christmas Farmers’ Markets. A full list of locations is available at www.smalltownlove.com. Books will hit the shelves this week and weekend.
The book is also being made available at cost to local organizations, charity groups and schools to sell as a fundraiser and interested parties may contact Amy Quarry, 250-991-0001, for information.
