Area retailers hosting open house

Organized by the owners of Daisy Blue, an online boutique based in the east end offering used children's clothing, accessories and maternity wear, the open house – from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 2 at the Queenswood Heights Community Centre – will also include an assortment of area businesses with products for tots and young children.

Orléans-based Apples'n'Oranges, an online retailer of children's clothing and accessories carrying only Canadian brands, will be one retailer showing off their wares at this weekend's event. The new east-end outlet of Precious Prints – which creates three-dimensional impressions of children's hands and feet as a keepsake for proud parents – will also take part, in addition to scrapbooking outlet Creative Memories and children's play place Tiny Hoppers, which offers programming including nursery school and instructional classes, and will be opening a new Orléans location later this month.

The purpose of the open house is to bring together a variety of retailers that appeal to the same consumer demographic, explains Kelli Catana, co-owner of Daisy Blue, and help get the word out about different shopping options in the east end. "It's nice to support each other … the more the merrier," she explains, adding that many of the smaller local businesses like Daisy Blue don't have massive advertising budgets, and have to look to creative alternatives to get the word out.

For the predominantly online businesses being featured at the open house, it's also an opportunity to meet and mingle with customers, and increase the consumer "comfort zone" with shopping online, Catana continues.

One aspect of the open house that attracted Orléans resident Karen Freestone, co-owner of Precious Prints for the east end, was the extra publicity. Since her business – which she launched with her husband, Russ, in September – is small and home-based, Freestone says it was a great opportunity to advertise what Precious Prints has to offer.

Sharing a venue with similar east-end outfits was another plus, she continues. "Being small businesses, I think it's really important to support each other and network," Freestone explains. "We can share resources, and (encourage) word-of-mouth."

And with a growing community of young families in the east end, she says the area's market has never been better for the types of services and products being offered at the open house.

Depending on the success of this weekend's event, Catana says the open house may become a regular occurrence. "If it's successful, it might be something we decide to do each quarter, or every season," she adds. "(We want to publicize that) people in the community have these really great businesses."