Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Oct. 13, 2017
Some Shawville shops blacked out their storefront windows on Friday the 13th and it wasn’t due to bad luck.
Covering their windows up in all black, three businesses hoped to remind passersby of what shopping local gets them and what it would mean for customers if the shop wasn’t there anymore.
“We wanted to make a statement to say that we appreciate people shopping here but we’d like more people locally to support us, too,” said Katharine Summerfield, owner of Boutique Gwendoline. “This is the quiet time of year.”

Shawville shop owners are hoping that an event like this will force people to realize that if their shops are gone, they’re probably gone for good.
“We’re trying to give the impression of what if we were closed, what would you do?” said Summerfield. “Main Street could be gone. Quyon had it happen to them, Bryson has had it happen to them, now Campbell’s Bay is having it happen to them. Just imagine if there was nothing here, it would be bad, awful and we wouldn’t want Shawville to be like that.”
“I think, sometimes, we’re just taken for granted,” she continued.
Especially, said Summerfield, when local shoppers don’t think to check their shops first.
“I think people don’t stop to think of the costs of shopping elsewhere,” she said. “When you go to Renfrew or Ottawa for the day, that’s gas, parking, and food. Oftentimes, they can be getting it right here. I’ve had a number of people go to the city for a dress for a wedding and they come back here, then go, ‘Oh my God, I could have come right here and not left.’”
Local merchants also highlighted another great reason to shop local – jobs, jobs, jobs.
“[Shopping locally] creates jobs for students, jobs for people,” said Summerfield.
Alongside Boutique Gwendoline, Jolie Folie and Hollywood Salon & Spa took part in the blackout. More stores had declared their intention to participate, but decided to postpnoe for a later date.
Merchants hope that this act will be a wake-up call to local shoppers and as of the early afternoon, the campaign had been working great for Summerfield.
“I’ve actually been really busy today,” said Summerfield. “I don’t know if it’s because of the black, I’ve seen more people from Shawville that I haven’t seen in a long time. So that’s encouraging, the message is getting out.”
But this has just been one step in a campaign that’s been ongoing for a few years, including coordinated sales with other stores on the block and offering gift baskets as door prizes.
While employing their own tactics has helped in the short-term, Summerfield said she, and other local merchants, are open to suggestions from their customers in order to provide the best shopping experience.
“We really appreciate the people that support us, but we need more people locally to support us, too,” she said. “If they have suggestions as to how we can do that – for instance, if they felt that staying open later on Friday nights would be beneficial for those people that go to the city to work – we would do it.
“It’s a two-way street and if we’re not supported, we can’t rely on people from outside to keep us open.”