MBiz

36 MBiz | june 2017 GENERATION GREEN By Wendy King W eb-based retailing is the way to go for many entrepreneurs. But for Sherry Sobey, owner of Generation Green in The Forks Market, having face-to-face conversations and sharing knowledge with customers is what makes her business thrive. So she's taken her web presence down a different avenue. "I really need to be in front of people and talking to them, so I made a decision that our site was going to be more information- based," she says. Instead of online shopping carts, web surfers heading to generationgreenwpg.com will find helpful guidance when seeking out natural, eco-friendly alternatives in food items, cosmetics, skin-care and cleaning products, all with a focus on Manitoba- and Canadian-made options. They'll also find profiles of local makers, and even news about events, like the DIY Homesteader Festival taking place in Teulon on June 24. But the store is the thing. And it came out of a personal crisis — a health scare that required major surgery. "I think this happens for a lot of people. When you have any kind of a health scare you try to take control and you start to look at some of the things that you're doing or products that you're using," Sobey says. She started researching products, their ingredients and potential hazards, and was appalled at what she found. "Unfortunately, there is no regulation on words like organic and natural. Anybody can slap those on there, so it's really misleading, and it's greenwashing. "That made me a little bit angry." She decided to pursue suppliers with whom she could build personal relationships, something that informs the way she's run Generation Green since 2012. That means finding local makers and screening them herself. Providing a year-round retail platform for manufacturers whose products might otherwise be available only at farmers' markets, the store has become a champion for locally made goods. Google any number of local producers in Manitoba, and you'll see Generation Green come up as a retailer on their websites. "All these local makers, they are my advertising," Sobey says. "When I started out, I didn't have an advertising budget, so I relied on my social media and I chose to talk about all these local makers. And now they're talking about me." When makers send customers, they often stumble onto other products they want to buy. There is a growing sense of cooperation among smaller producers, who are recognizing that strength in numbers is good business for everyone. "It's a collective community — we're all in this together, trying to make a living or trying to make a difference, and a lot of people are hopping on that local bandwagon now because they do see that," Sobey says. The high-traffic location at The Forks Market has been great for business, too, and she expects customers to follow when Generation Green expands and moves to the second floor, hopefully later this year. "We're going to be adding lots more space and an in-store café, so I can really start cross-marketing some of those food products and offer raw, healthy vegan options," she says. "It's going to give us ambience, more room to be able to expand and grow on product lines, and The Forks is relying on us because we are going to be a draw up there as well. "I'm excited for it!" ■ Support your local maker GENERATION GREEN CHAMPIONS SMALL ECO-FRIENDLY SUPPLIERS

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