Are you crazy, or just stupid?

Do I have to choose one or the other?? Ever since I opened Winding Road Collective in June, people keep asking me why on earth I opened another store (after closing my previous store, The Foundary, in 2024). I guess the best answer is, "Perhaps I am, in fact, crazy". But the real answer is, because I still believe in our city and our downtown and I'm still willing to keep trying to create a successful store that will help support this community. And please make no mistake - this small store does not support me. If I didn't have other income sources, I would not be able to run a small retail store in Sault Ste. Marie. Winding Road Collective is here to support our city. What's that????????? Please allow me to explain.

• My husband and I renovated the space my store is in, bringing much needed vitality to an old building that will serve the city in many ways long after I'm gone

• I pay city property taxes, special "downtown" taxes and even for downtown sidewalk plowing

• I provide jobs for local residents

• I am an ambassador for Sault Ste. Marie with every visitor I meet, providing information, recommendations, and even a restroom from time to time

• I provide flowers, benches and decor on a block of town our city leaders have ignored for years

• I support the community whenever possible, with donations, by participating in community events and volunteering when I can

• I bank locally

• I buy locally made goods when possible

• I send potential customers to other stores when I don't have what they are looking for

• I recommend only local restaurants (Barbeau and Brimley are included in that!)

• I, along with all my fellow downtown business owners, bring critically important vitality and character to our city

• I am a champion of our town to all I meet, every day, all the time.

  
  

Winding Road Collective is here to support Sault Ste. Marie, not the other way around. It would be nice if the community could and would support my store, as well as all of the other small businesses in town. But that's not really happening right now. Small businesses exist because their owners still believe in the value of small towns. Period. If all the small businesses in this town gave up trying, what would our city become? Think it wouldn't matter to you? Think you wouldn't be impacted if all our small businesses went away? Think again.