Rachel and Sam Curran decided to move to Alberta from Kingston, Ontario two-and-a-half years ago because they liked the free-enterprise nature of the business climate and what they perceived as the family-first nature of Albertans.
They chose to live in Okotoks because they wanted to raise their two young children in a small town and saw Okotoks as the place to do that. They even bought their house online, sight unseen. What’s more. Rachel’s parents decided to move west at the same time and now live with them.
“It’s worked out really well,” Rachel said with a grin.
After a couple of years working as an employee, Rachel – who had developed her own brand of bath and beauty products – Naked Beauty Bath and Body – decided to open a “shop local” boutique outlet for her and other home-based Okotoks entrepreneurs in the recently opened D'Arcy Crossing Shopping Centre. Teaming with her mother, Sherrie Liedeman, Rachel opened The Collective last fall.
“The Collective is dedicated to making shopping local easy and inspiring,” Rachel said. “We showcase thoughtfully curated selection of unique, handcrafted products from local artisans as well as items from other small businesses.”
“We knew, as a small business, how hard it is to get started. Retail space is expensive, and this was a terrific way for us to create a new business while helping other local entrepreneurs and make a great impact on the community.”
Currently, The Collective shares space with Bliss Studio and showcases merchandise from between 30 and 40 small businesses.
“Things change, and every so often we have new vendors come in,” Rachel said. “We could probably increase that to between 50 and 60.”
“We’ve seen a large portion the last couple of years for people wanting natural products that come from families,” added Sam. “That market is definitely increased a lot over the last while and the demand is getting larger every month.”
“Okotoks is very community-based,” said Rachel. “People want to know that they’re supporting a family or that their shopping dollars are staying in the community.”
She also offered some advice for people who want to become vendors at boutiques like The Collective: “Choose what your values are,” she said. “They become your mission and your vision. Then start building a brand that people will recognize. Decide what problems you want to solve and who you want to sell to. Then create a recognizable logo or colour scheme that people will know is yours. And finally, invest in business insurance to ensure you’re protected in the unlikely event of liability. Those are the solid, basic business things that you must ensure you have in place.”
For those not yet familiar with D’Arcy Crossing, The Collective and Bliss Studio are located on the second floor of the northeast building. The entrance is between Morning Brunch Co. and D’Arcy Dental, and there’s a staircase as well as an elevator for easy access.
