ABOVE: Garrick Tiplady, Canadian Country Director for Meta, at the December 14 unveiling of #GoodIdeasOttawa. (OLM Staff)
This year Ottawa residents want to buy local. According to Meta (formerly Facebook), the parent company that owns social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, eight out of ten residents plan to shop locally for the holidays.
On Tuesday, December 14th, at 56 ByWard Market Square, Meta will unveil its #GoodIdeasOttawa shoppable window display to the public for the holiday season. Interacting with customers in real-time during this busy time of year is vital for local businesses. Meta seeing this need in the era of online shopping is positively changing the community shopping experience, so local business gets the support it deserves.
The company is opening the #GoodIdeasOttawa pop-up, featuring six local businesses and the good ideas behind them in the heart of the historic ByWard Market. All the enterprises promote what Meta believes to be good ideas in keeping with the name, with all of them having strong and admirable social purposes.
The included vendors are:
Saint Lyon, a retailer that sells affordable, comfortable and stylish athletic wear, as well as gives a percentage of profits to a charity of the customer's choice.
The Box of Life, a company that produces “worm studio” composters made to fit inside apartments and smaller living areas, making it easier than ever for everyone from homeowners to renters to dramatically reduce waste.
Nurture with Botanics, which uses local and natural ingredients to make seasonally-based natural wellness products, including teas and skincare products.
If you're looking for clothing or knitwear, look no further than Brenda Made This, the local Ottawa area knitting enthusiast who has got quite the catalogue of made-to-order knits and knit patterns..
If all the shopping is making you hungry or you're thinking of picking up something sweet for somebody who you're sweet on this Christmas, then the Gather Café + Kitchen will be part of the display, showcasing its sweet and savoury vegan treats.
Also included is Birch Bark Coffee, a Indigenous-owned coffee company that strives to improve on-going social issues for Indigenous families. Birch Bark Coffee proudly offers organic, SPP certified, Fair Trade coffee.
Local businesses are integral to our community here in Ottawa. The #GoodIdeasOttawa window display will bring these do-good companies to public attention and allow customers to discover charitably minded, sustainable businesses making an impact and show us how digital platforms can make shopping locally easier than we imagine. Facebook may have brought the world together over the internet, but Meta is bringing communities closer one sustainable transaction at a time.
To learn more about each of the participating businesses, visit fb.me/GoodIdeasOttawa, or visit the pop-up shop at 56 ByWard Market Square, Ottawa.
