The holiday season is a time for gathering, giving, and celebrating the people who make our lives meaningful. It’s also one of the most important moments of the year to support the small businesses that make our communities feel like home.

At Makers, we believe every gift tells a story. When you shop local, that story becomes even more powerful. This holiday season, your choices don’t just fill stockings or sit beneath a tree. They create real impact for real people: Canadian makers, artists, and small business owners who pour their hearts into every piece they create. For many of our vendors, the holiday season is where they make most of their sales and enjoy the fruits of their year-long labour.

Here’s why choosing local matters more than ever.

1. Your Dollars Stay in the Community

When you shop from local makers, your purchase goes right back into your community. Supporting families, fueling other small businesses, and helping local economies thrive.
It’s a ripple effect: one gift can support multiple people, each playing a part in Canada’s creative economy.

At Makers, every vendor keeps 100% of their sales, meaning your holiday purchase truly goes straight to the artisan behind it.

2. You Find Gifts That Actually Mean Something

There’s something special about gifting a piece made by hand.
A candle poured in small batches. A piece of jewelry crafted with intention. A skincare product made from all nautral local ingredients. A print designed by an artist in your own province.

Local gifts come with stories; stories your loved ones will feel each time they use them.
They stand out, feel meaningful, and last longer than anything mass-produced on a shelf.

3. You’re Supporting Dreams, Not Corporations

Shopping local means supporting the dreamers, the doers, and the risk-takers—the people who create because they love what they do. Many of our makers are parents, students, Indigenous artists, or full-time creators growing their businesses one customer at a time.

Your holiday purchase might help a maker:
✨ Buy materials for their next launch
✨ Pay for childcare while they work
✨ Grow their brand into something sustainable
✨ Build a business that supports their family

These are real people you’re impacting, and they feel every sale.

4. You Reduce Environmental Impact

Local shopping means:

Shorter supply chains
Less mass manufacturing
Fewer shipping emissions
Higher-quality goods meant to last

Plus, many makers value sustainability deeply, using natural ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, and slow-made processes that prioritize quality over volume.

With every local gift you choose, you’re choosing a greener holiday season.

5. You Help Keep Creativity Alive in Canada

Canada’s creative community is full of incredible talent. Artists, designers, soap makers, ceramicists, bakers, and more. When you shop local, you help ensure these creatives can continue to innovate, grow, and share their craft.

Every Makers store is a celebration of Canadian creativity . And during the holidays, that creativity shines even brighter.

6. You Create a Holiday Experience That Just Feels Better

Walking into a local shop, especially a Makers store, feels different. You’re surrounded by products made with heart.
You discover items you’ve never seen before. You feel connected to your community in a way online shopping can’t replicate. Plus, most of our locations have low-sensory hours: either the first or last hour of shopping, we lower the volume of music, slightly dim the lights, and create a calm shopping environment that’s the opposite of hectic holiday stress shopping.

Holiday shopping becomes less of a chore and more of a moment.

This Season, Choose Gifts That Matter

At Makers, we’re proud to support over 1,000+ Canadian artisans across more than 20 retail locations. When you choose to shop with us this holiday season, you’re doing more than checking off a lis, you’re supporting a thriving network of small businesses nationwide.

Thank you for choosing local.
Thank you for choosing Canadian.
And thank you for choosing to support the people who make this season feel meaningful.

Whether you’re shopping for loved ones, teachers, neighbours, or yourself, you’ll find gifts with heart, purpose, and story.
All under one roof.

Your Holiday Shopping Can Change a Local Maker’s Year; Here’s How: