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Bring the city to us: Retailers find success in rural setting

The Hide House attracts customers from all around southern Ontario

The Hide House in Acton, Ont. is in the restored warehouse of Acton Tannery, built in 1899.

Even if you’ve never set foot in Acton, Ont., anyone living within at least a two-hour drive of the southern Ontario community knows the saying: “It’s worth the drive to Acton.”

The slogan has been The Hide House's marketing cry for much of the past quarter century, and part of the lure that keeps customers coming back to buy leather and wool jackets, accessories and furniture year after year.

While ownership has changed hands over the years, and an attempt to open locations in Toronto and Vaughan, Ont. eventually failed, the original Hide House has always been in the same historic building in Acton, also known as "Canada's Leathertown."

For the retailer, staying in a rural setting is a critical part of the business.

“You can’t really say, ‘It’s worth the drive to Acton’ if you’re not in Acton,” says The Hide House general manager, Stephanie Miller.

Originally from Acton, which is located about 70 km west of Toronto, Miller moved away but came back four years ago to run The Hide House.

While there have been some rough patches over the years, including some time spent in bankruptcy protection around 2008, the original store never closed.

The most difficult thing is to let people know that you are here. It’s about raising that awareness, keeping the campaign going and letting people know it’s worth the drive to any small town.

— Stephanie Miller, Hide House general manager

“The most difficult thing is to let people know that you are here,” says Miller. “It’s about raising that awareness, keeping the campaign going and letting people know it’s worth the drive to any small town. It’s an event.”

The Hide House is one of a number of small businesses scattered across rural Canada that capitalize on their location to captivate consumers. Instead of relying on the population density of larger urban centres to sell their products, these companies count on people to make a special trip to buy their goods and services.

It’s a gamble that doesn’t always pay off. However, for businesses like The Hide House, it’s a good reputation that keeps customers coming back. A catchy advertising campaign also helps.

Restaurateur Michael Stadtländer has also had great success decamping to rural setting.

After years of working in and running his own restaurants in downtown Toronto and on Vancouver Island, he decided to buy a farm about a 20-minute drive away from Collingwood, Ont. Eigensinn Farm is celebrating 20 years of raising and growing food and serving it to customers, most of whom drive two hours north from Toronto, after making a reservation roughly three months in advance.

Stadtländer recently reopened another country restaurant, Haisai, in nearby Singhampton, Ont., about a seven-minute drive from his farm.

For him the setup is perfect: He lives and works in the country where he's most comfortable, and the customers come to him. He's far away from the city’s noise and fast pace, but just close enough to use it when he needs to.

"It's 100 acres. It's one big playground. What's really beautiful is we have Toronto a business base,” he says.

His advice to anyone considering a rural business venture is to first figure out who the clients are, and decide whether they will come to you.

“I couldn’t imagine cooking food out of boxes anymore,” he says. “People eat our landscape out here. That’s the idea. That’s why they come.”

(Photos courtesy The Hide House on Facebook)