Inside her Horseshoe Highlands home, Deanna Langill and her business partner Paula Beech stand in front of a long — and full — dining table.
It’s carefully laid with candles, a crafted charcuterie board, earthy-toned handmade mugs; boxes of fresh coffee. Behind the table, a row of scented candles line a shelf.
And it’s all for sale— ready for the eight or so shoppers who will peruse the goods in a socially-distanced way.
Handpicked is Beech and Langill’s new pop-up shop — a business tailor-made to an era of physical distancing and amazon dominance.
“We felt people are at a loss right now of what to buy and where,” said Beech.
As avid shoppers, Beech and Langill felt that this year they needed to change their habits — shopping busy malls seemed out of the question and supporting local business seemed like the right thing to do.
That’s why, said Beech, Handpicked is all stuff they’d want to buy themselves — and it’s all sourced from artisans who they’ve developed a relationship with. Almost all their goods are from Canada.
To comply with health guidelines, Beech and Langill record everyone who’s at each event — and as always, masks are mandatory.
“You can tell we’re both teachers,” said Langill with a smile, gesturing at the in-depth organization system they’ve set up for guests.
At a soft-opening in late October, guests each got a clipboard to record what items they wanted — that allows for spaced out movement around Langill’s home.
“But, we wanted it to be a hands-on experience,” explained Beech, mentioning how they wanted to find a way to balance an intimate shopping experience with strict safety guidelines.
Allison Blue, a teacher in Springwater, was one of the first to check out Handpicked’s wares.
“I thought it was an excellent idea,” she said, ”trying to find a way to support Canadian products, especially this year.”
Besides a way to skip out on busy stores and malls, she said it’s a chance to hone in on higher quality products.
“This is much more my style of shopping — I’m looking for reusable, sustainable products this year.”
Beech and Langill eagerly explain the perks and story behind each product — finely woven blankets from Ireland, Coffee from a new roasters in Barrie, or wine labels handmade by a up-and-coming artist in Collingwood.
They reach out to each maker individually — they said that’s the key to to Handpick’s method.
“We become friends with a lot of them,” said Beech with a laugh. “Then they start to tell you their story, about how they started.”
While the first event was held in Langill’s home, the pair say they’re open to trying new formats of local selling — Zoom sales parties for instance . And they’ve started setting up partnerships with local businesses where they might set up pop-up shops.
In a year where restaurants and shops of all types have had to readjust their business models, Beech said their angle has drawn a lot of interest.
“I think we found a niche,” said Beech, “we found a gap. It’s actually filling a void.”
Wendy Timpano, general manager of the Orillia Community Development Corp., says she’s encouraged by the many local businesses who have made similar pivots to suit the ’new normal.’
“There’s many reasons why entrepreneurs are looking at starting businesses now, you know,” said Timpano. “I think there’s opportunity in every situation. It’s just finding it and making it work for you.”
You can contact Handpicked by email at [email protected].
