OurVictoria

OurVictoria Local support shop looking to strengthen Victoria BC's local economy alongside the Columbia Institute

07/10/2022

Our revamped tote guides us to our favourite local farmers markets! Check them out!

We have a new look to go with our mission!One of the best things about living in Victoria is our access to locally-grown...
06/30/2022

We have a new look to go with our mission!

One of the best things about living in Victoria is our access to locally-grown food and the density of local creators in our backyards. The closer we are to our local creators and farmers, the more we can trust our communities to deliver the freshest, most nutritious, best quality products, while investing our hard-earned income into farmers and people that will feel its impact. You work hard to live here, and so do they.
By purchasing this tote bag, you are not only showing off your community-oriented values while you shop locally, but your money is also contributing to the Columbia Institute’s important work to uplift local economies across Canada through research, bursaries, and partnerships with local governments.

As always, our geocoordinates point to some of our favourite local markets. Follow them and fill your OurVictoria tote bag with the best local goods available.

We've been producing these products since our conception back in May, but we think they deserve another post to reintrod...
06/25/2022

We've been producing these products since our conception back in May, but we think they deserve another post to reintroduce them. Our featured products are decorated with geocoordinates that point locals and Victoria enthusiasts to some of our favourite local businesses. The goal is for you to find your new go-to spot and to increase their traffic - just some friendly business-to-business celebration.

These products in particular are special because you can take them into the businesses listed in the geocoordinates and use them over and over again instead of wasting bags at your local market, or filling up the coffee shop's garbage bin with disposable cups. All proceeds, of course, go directly to the Columbia Institute, whose work revolves around enhancing local economies across the country.

Go to the link in our bio to check out our shop, and don't forget to browse our other trendy merch to sport our logo and pass along our mission. Thank you for being here!

Recently, we worked with a small local artist to produce these beautiful and colourful illustrations of Fireweed and put...
06/24/2022

Recently, we worked with a small local artist to produce these beautiful and colourful illustrations of Fireweed and put them on our comfortable unisex T-shirts. Since then, nearly doubled in Instagram followers - seems like Victoria really likes our artists! So we started to wonder if we could use your enthusiasm to bolster our mission to uplift our local economy.

Our Fireweed collection is still up in our shop. We have T-shirts in black, cream, and white, all decorated with a different Fireweed design. We love them so much, and we hope you do as well.

We are so excited to show you what we have been brainstorming here at Our Victoria.Our small team of four undergrad stud...
06/23/2022

We are so excited to show you what we have been brainstorming here at Our Victoria.

Our small team of four undergrad students often sit in one of the beautiful study rooms at Royal Roads University and brainstorm about how we can serve Victoria's small businesses better - and from that, we introduce our first (of three) tier of value!

In 2019, there were almost 95 small businesses for every 1,000 people in the Vancouver Island/Coastal region of BC, and then a large proportion of businesses reported a loss in revenue and a larger-than-average amount of layoffs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Small Business Branch. We wonder if small businesses, already stretched thin with resources and employees, might benefit from an online shop to extend their reach with minimum extra resources through the Our Victoria website.

Do you LOVE to buy from a certain local brand somewhere else on Vancouver Island, but can't buy them unless you make the trip out there? Let us know if you think this would work for them!
Do you have a small business that would benefit from selling online but you haven't had the time or resources to get started? Contact us and we can figure out together how we can help you distribute your wonderful creations and promote you on our social media.
By working with Our Victoria, your purchases not only help out the small business we work with, but they stay within the local region. Additionally, any profits we make off the Our Victoria shop goes directly to the Columbia Institute, a non-profit that works to strengthen local economies across Canada.

Hello, Victoria enthusiasts! Because of our recent increase in followers, we thought we'd give an introduction to give y...
06/22/2022

Hello, Victoria enthusiasts! Because of our recent increase in followers, we thought we'd give an introduction to give you more of a sense of what we stand for:

We are a team of four undergrad students from Royal Roads University in an Innovation and Sustainability Business degree, and with Our Victoria, we are seeking ways we can deliver real social value with a business venture. As norms around business shift because of major events like pandemics and economic decline, our main objective with Our Victoria, in partnership with the Columbia Institute, is to encourage the growth of local wealth. Victoria BC already has such a booming small, local business scene, so we are actively looking to leverage our position into places that need a bit more support - we are a learning, growing venture in that regard.

Previously, we have marketed ourselves as a merchandise business with the aim to point locals and visitors to favourite locally-owned businesses in the area, but we are shifting our focus and splitting our activity into three tiers of value:

1. to be an e-commerce distributor between you (the customer) and small local businesses that might not have an online platform to sell their lovely goods
2. to promote small local artists through our Artist projects (be one of the first to support this by buying our Fireweed tees in the link in our bio!)
3. to point locals and visitors to some of our favourite local businesses, as we always have, through our features geocoordinates products

All three tiers help bolster the efforts of the Columbia Institute by sending ALL our proceeds to them.

So, how are we going to do all this? Stick around for more posts on our tiers of value. As always, thank you so much for being here and for supporting this cause!

We have been shifting our focus a bit and playing with different ideas on how we could better uplift and support those p...
06/18/2022

We have been shifting our focus a bit and playing with different ideas on how we could better uplift and support those parts of our local economy that needs a bit more love. The pandemic drastically changed the way we view the local market, and Victoria has been lucky enough to see a prideful rebound in local business, but as the global economy shifts to favour more locally-focused practices, there is more we can do to go even beyond where we were pre-pandemic to support local.
One way we might do this is by supporting local artists. In Victoria, we pride ourselves in our wide range of funky, sophisticated, raw, grungy, playful, etc., etc., local artists, and there are always more things we could do to support them. By supporting them, we support the growth of our culture and our economy.
All that to say that we hope you're excited about this small first installment of this project as we are - and don't be afraid to send us some feedback when you visit our online shop!

In case you haven't heard, we have launched a new project! Our first installation is the illustration of the fireweed pl...
06/17/2022

In case you haven't heard, we have launched a new project! Our first installation is the illustration of the fireweed plant on our unisex tees, designed by a local artist we know personally. There are three colours and designs to choose from, and we hope you love them as much as we do.

Do you like supporting local artists?If you're a local or Victoria enthusiast, your answer is likely an unhesitant "YES....
06/16/2022

Do you like supporting local artists?
If you're a local or Victoria enthusiast, your answer is likely an unhesitant "YES." In Victoria, we pride ourselves in our funky, unique multitude of local artists, and at Our Victoria, we view the strength of the local economy to be tied to the strength of the local artistic presence.
For this new product line, we've partnered with a local artist we know personally to provide us with these beautiful illustrations of the fireweed plant to be printed on our unisex tees, available now! With every purchase, not only are you supporting, uplifting, and sporting a local artist's design, but, as always, all proceeds will go to the Columbia Institute, whose work commits to enhancing local economies across Canada.
Also, we've been shifting our focus a bit - more on that later, so stay tuned!

Every time you purchase something at our online shop, the profits always go to the Columbia Institute, a Canadian non-pr...
06/03/2022

Every time you purchase something at our online shop, the profits always go to the Columbia Institute, a Canadian non-profit that works to enhance and sustain local economies across the country - this makes the quality of our products and your experience with our shop very important!

Next time you shop with us, send us some feedback by filling out the Contact form found on the top menu of our website. Nothing is too small to mention, and will help us improve!

Happy shopping!

What's the story behind the geocoordinates on our eco-tote?The backbone of any community's unique culture is its locally...
06/02/2022

What's the story behind the geocoordinates on our eco-tote?

The backbone of any community's unique culture is its locally-owned businesses. Our locals already know this, and that's why we love these businesses and support them as much as we can.

For locals, these geocoordinates praise those locally-owned businesses you already know and love; for non-locals, they might just lead you to your new favourite business to visit every time you come to Victoria. Plus, the profits from your purchase will always go to the Columbia Institute, a Canadian non-profit that works to enhance and support local economies across the country.

See where these geocoordinates lead! Hint: these are places you can actually use the tote to carry the best things our island soil can grow!

Don't have your tote yet? Check out these favourites:





What's the story behind the geocoordinates on our enamel mug?The backbone of any community's unique culture is its local...
06/01/2022

What's the story behind the geocoordinates on our enamel mug?

The backbone of any community's unique culture is its locally-owned businesses. Our locals already know this, and that's why we love these businesses and support them as much as we can.

For locals, these geocoordinates praise those locally-owned businesses you already know and love; for non-locals, they might just lead you to your new favourite business to visit every time you come to Victoria. Plus, the profits from your purchase will always go to the Columbia Institute, a Canadian non-profit that works to enhance and support local economies across the country.

See where these geocoordinates lead! Hint: these are places you can actually bring the mug in to use!

Don't have your mug yet? Check out these favourite businesses:





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Victoria, BC
V0S, V8N-V8Z, V9A-V9E

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