By Joanne Rodgers,
Bruce Peninsula Press
The annual pre Black Friday Merchant Tour, now in its fifth year, showcased 21 vendor stops around Lion’s Head with a pop-up shop in Ferndale.
Organizer Charlotte Chinn says the event has become a household name and increasingly draws the younger demographic out for the holiday shopping event. Chinn sees the event as a way for shoppers to connect with their local community, meet and support local vendors, to discover a wide range of locally produced goods and to enjoy a great social activity with their families and friends. The event continues to attract new merchants and new patrons.
The two day pop-up store in Ferndale, the space courtesy of Ted Hayes, offered four rooms for small scale business, artisans and crafters to display their specialty items. Approximately 300 patrons stopped by to check out the vendors during the pop-up event.
This year, the Merchant Tour was sponsored by Grey Bruce Cottages Inc, which offered the chance to win a free one night staycation at one of their rental vacation properties. The opportunities to enter and win fabulous prizes and to receive special promotions have served to entice the patrons to come out and visit as many of the participating vendor stops as they can during the three day event.
Both vendors and patrons reported a positive experience, with vendors saying they were happy with the flow of patrons and sales.
