Bag of Toronto is returning this holiday season with a unique shopping option to help out small businesses as COVID-19 cases jump in the city.
After a successful spring launch, Bag of Toronto has partnered with five local BIAs to offer customers “a curated assortment of specialty products from local vendors in five different neighbourhoods delivered right to your doorstep.” That’s right. No waiting in lines. No masking up. No leaving your house.
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The five neighbourhoods participating in the initiative are Bloorcourt, Bloordale Village, College Promenade, Ossington Avenue and Queen Street West. According to Bag of Toronto, there are five editions available, each representing one of the five neighbourhoods and includes between five to seven products from an array of local businesses.
This project is as much for consumers as it is for small business owners. “The main goal of the project is to direct revenue to small local businesses,” says Nick Milum, one of the program’s co-founders. “We want to provide an efficient way for customers looking to support local to do so.”
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Milum has already received glowing reviews from businesses with which he’s partnered. Jimmy Hoang from Field Trip Café called Bag of Toronto a “saving grace,” while Toula Bekiaris from Filosophy Café said that the program has “introduced local businesses to many customers who may not have been familiar with what was being offered in the neighbourhood.”
Not only does the project save you from braving the wind-blasted streets of Toronto this holiday shopping season, it also donates a portion of profits and all tips to five different charities — each of which are hard at work in the community from which you purchased your bag.
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There are a limited number of bags each week. Each bag costs $60, tax included, with a retail value of $55. The remaining $5 is used to cover delivery and web-hosting.
The Bag of Toronto team will be making deliveries on four weekends: Nov. 21, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. All orders must be in by Wednesday at 5 p.m. each week.