Shopping local is one of my favourite things to do. It is something that I am passionate about and believe that people should be educated on the value and importance of supporting businesses within our community. This is largely why I created the meet the maker series on my blog.
Chris and I were fortunate enough to attend the Media Night Event for The Local Life on Locke Street store last month. I was so excited when we were invited as this event involved 2 of my favourite things; shopping and supporting local! Then to top it off, my hubby got to come with me to enjoy the fun and date night together.
The Local Life is a handmade retail store with locations in Port Dalhousie, Hamilton and Dundas Ontario.They are committed to bringing the community the best handmade products by locally sourced makers. I have not personally checked out the Port Dalhousie or Dundas location but am sure that they are equally as amazing as the new location on Locke Street in Hamilton featuring 50 different vendors. Melissa and Elaine are always eager to chat and show you around the store. Melissa is the owner of another store called King St. Collective here in Hamilton and Elaine owns the two existing locations of the local life in Dundas and Port Dalhouise. Elaine and Melissa met through there 2 businesses and decide to come together to collaborate and open a third store; The Local Life on Locke. All 3 stores have the same concept of local vendors with handmade items. Melissa & Elaine also collaborated with Lisa from Small Batch Soaps as she has her own retail store within the local life. Lisa also has her own work studio in the backroom of the store. You can tell that they are proud and passionate about what they do which is amazing to see and makes the atmosphere of the store extra special.
When we walked into the store your senses immediately burst. It smelled absolutely amazing thanks to Small Batch Soaps. The displays were absolutely beautiful and the atmosphere was exciting. Every which way you turned there was another amazing locally sourced product that caught your eye. What I really liked is that there is something for everyone in the store. Whether you're looking for decor for your home, children's clothing or toys, bath and body products for men and women, a card or jewelry they have it all! It would be a great place to start looking for a unique gift for a friend or loved one.
A few of my favourite finds from the store were;
my bath products from small batch soaps - this was my favourite find in the store. I don't often treat myself to bath products but I couldn't resist as they smelled absolutely luxurious.I got some bath scrub for me in the Mermaid scent which I use daily. I also picked up some bath bubble crumble in the fruit loop flavour for Lily. I loved this product because it is the perfect amount of something special for your kiddo in the tub instead of using a full sized bath bomb and the Fruit Loop smell was AMAZING! I felt like I was diving into a box of the cereal and it is Lily's favourite.
Femme Faire products - Andrea is one of my favourite local business women who I will be featuring in 2 weeks on my blog. I was excited that we got to meet at this event. I own one of her AMAZING headbands but you can also find some of her other beautiful products in the Local Life Shop
While there were a ton of amazing children's clothing and toy products in the store my favourite find was an Olive and Splash muscle shirt for Mason. It is made of one of the softest fabrics I've ever felt and has the cutest design with a pocket on chest!
This would also be a great date night activity if you are in the area and looking for a new area to explore with your spouse. Check out Locke street in Hamilton! There are so many great shops to explore and lots of cool restaurants or desert shops to pop into. I will say though if you are making a day out of it with your kiddos not all of the stores are stroller friendly. I would recommend bringing a smaller stroller or baby wearing as some stores are quite compact and have a few stairs to get into them.
Are you a local maker that is interested in learning how to get your products into one of their stores? Click here for more information.
Instagram: @locallife.on.locke
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