Some ingenuity and forward-thinking on the part of the Record Shoppe’s owners in Huntsville is boosting their business in a bright, creative way.
Owners Cara Henry and Trevor Marshall have been at their 15 Main Street East location for four years now and had a great first year before the pandemic hit.
That set everybody back, but then main street business owners had to deal with the Town’s Diggin’ Downtown project too, which saw the street in front of them dug up twice in one year.
The business is now looking ahead towards better times and celebrating two milestones this week – a brand new moving-lit store sign plus a digital app that’s live for download now in the Google Play and Apple App Store.
Both are extremely welcome additions to the business after the somewhat rocky start.
Prior to the new sign going up this week, there had only been a sticker signifying the Record Shoppe’s location in the front window.
The new sign (see it moving live here), is the brainchild of Dallas Clarke at Hypervision Signs, Graphic and Window Tinting. It lights up at night and includes a moving record player, which Cara says makes quite a statement.
“We called Dallas and said ‘we’re ready – we need a sign’ and he said ‘Oh, I have a really great idea’ and we let him go with the idea,” she explains.
The response from the public has been overwhelming.
“Our Instagram blew up over it,” says Cara. “It has been very positive. Everything has been ‘Wow, best sign on the main street – best sign in Muskoka.’”
The business’s new app has a customer appreciation rewards component and is ready for download now too.
By using it customers can shop their favourite records, get free rewards, track orders and even get exclusive deals. If you download now you can receive 500 points to get you started.
“A lot of small businesses can’t get apps and I had a developer I used to work with and we’re hoping that having one gets us a couple more steps ahead for a small business,” says Cara.
The Record Shoppe is open Tues to Sat between 11 am and 5 pm.
To learn more about the business, visit them online too at therecordshoppe.ca
Photo: The Record Shoppe owners Cara and Trevor with Hypervision’s Dallas Clarke (centre) beneath the new sign.