Learn about our local business of the month, Laura’s Art Shoppe. Why shop local Temiskaming? Shopping locally offers residents a chance to give back and promote locally owned and operated businesses. It is a way for residents to participate in the economic development of their communities.
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Highlighting A Business Of The Month
Every week we will highlight a local business and try to connect you with the business, its’ owner(s) and the products being offered. It is our way to promote the shop local Temiskaming movement. It is important to shop local Temiskaming.
Laura’s Art Shoppe
It is certainly worth taking a few extra minutes do drive to Cobalt to visit Laura’s Art Shoppe. You will find an array of works by regional and local artists and artisans. Beautiful carvings by Don MacKenzie, Stained glass and jewellery by Carmen Cantin and Drill Core pendants by Wendy Stanwick. Pottery by Viki Mather, Diane Béland, Sherry Phippen, Albert McCallum. Sculptures by Rose Aimée-Belanger and Ernie Fauvelle. Artworks by Lionel Venne, Laura Landers, Helen Hall and more. You can learn more about some of these
local artists here. Visit the gallery’s
web site to learn more about what you can find.
38 Silver Street, Cobalt (705) 629-0030
Laura will custom frame your needlework, artwork and photos. Watercolours, pastels, oils and family photos will all be handled with the utmost of care, and framed in quality products that will last a lifetime. Laura enjoys it all, the end results being the best reward of all: seeing the reaction upon pickup by the customer.
Laura Landers was born and raised in the copper mining town of Noranda Quebec. Even as a little girl she was always painting, drawing and even selling her ‘early art’ from door to door for spending money. Later she lived in Espanola and Timmins and decided to move to Haileybury in 1984. She then opened Laura’s Art Shoppe and in 2012 set up downtown Cobalt. Laura has taught numerous workshops and collaborates with local art organisations such as the
Temiskaming Art Gallery, the
Temiskaming Palette and Bruch Club and the
Cobalt Artists Colony. Besides having her paintings in numerous private collections, Laura has displayed her work in solo and group exhibitions. Laura’s popular series, Slices of Temiskaming, currently available in print form, takes a whimsical look at life in a small Northern community.
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See below a few expandable sections with additional information on buying local.
Is Buying Local More Expensive & More Difficult?
It might cost you a few extra dollars, it might take a bit more effort than a click on your computer, but shopping locally will have a major impact on your community. It will keep our downtowns vibrant, it will help attract people to our community.
Shop local is a lot more than a trendy buzzword to make everyone feel good! Shopping locally helps boost the local economy because more money stays in the local economy. Thriving local downtowns are the sign of a healthy community. There are a million reasons to shop locally. Maybe the single most important point for shopping locally is that the local businesses are often more invested in the welfare of our community and are creating local jobs.
On the other hand, local businesses have a duty to innovate and offer a level of service out of this world along with a product selection priced and adapted to our local market. Merchants have to reinvigorate their own businesses and collaborate with others to compete with the global economy.
Understanding What Is Happening
Decades of decline have taken their toll on several small towns. Our declining downtowns are the symptoms of a few major problems:
- Population decline and aging/changing populations
- Declining revenues from the loss of business to the web purchases and the big box stores
- Competition is now global
There is no silver bullet, success comes by growing what we have, people have to embrace what is there and hometown successes.
What can we do to help our economic growth
Keep our existing businesses
Most important is to support what exists, as it is much harder to attract a new business than to support an existing one. This is where the shop local initiative has a direct impact and this is where everyone of us can participate. If we do not use our local services, we will lose them.
Grow our exiting businesses
Focus on making existing businesses more successful. Don’t invest all the time and energy in attracting new, non-native businesses to town. Can new innovative approaches, partnerships and collaborations be created?
Get new businesses
Next, and last, we need to see how to attract new businesses that are part of the overall plan for the community , for the region. This is very difficult and must be part of a long-term vision and strategy.
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Shop Local Temiskaming – We Each Can Do Our Share
Why should we each do our little share in supporting local businesses ?
Because we want to ensure that our communities are places
with vibrant downtowns
with healthy local businesses
where people will want to live
where people will want to retire
which attract young people.
Shop Local Temiskaming
To learn more about our region, visit the Destination Temiskaming Blog.
