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COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND RETAILER IN WAKE OF HURRICANE
Hurricane Dorian hit the East Coast last month and left a trail of damage in its wake. In Montague, P.E.I., as the storm hit, Jeff Beck was on the phone with an RCMP officer who was standing in front of his family’s business, Beck’s Home Furniture and Appliances, when its roof was blown right off.
More than half of the century-old building’s metal roof was lifted up by heavy winds and dropped on the store’s storage facility. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but everything on the store’s fourth floor was ruined, as well as most of the product on the third floor. The Becks and their staff rushed to lay down tarps on the exposed floor to protect inventory on the lower floors as rain continued to come down.
A construction crew was also brought in immediately to start work on a new roof, but by mid-week, a full day of hard rain threatened the rest of the exposed building.
“We had 20-plus staff trying to repel the rain with hundreds of buckets, tarps, sump pumps... we had all of our staff, there were friends, family, there were the construction guys, we were all working at it, but it got to a point that it was impossible to keep up with,” says Beck.
In the midst of the disaster, the community came together to support the Becks. While staff were bailing water out of the building, friends stopped by with sandwiches and support. And offers for storage space poured in, which was huge for the Becks, who had to find a safe, dry place to store 20,000 feet worth of inventory until the water damage can be repaired.
“We have really great staff; they rolled up their sleeves. Our bookkeeper was bailing waterit’s just kind of how Islanders are. We kind of look after each other,” says Beck.
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QUEBEC RONA STORES RAISE $1 MILLION FOR LOCAL FOOD BANK
Four corporate RONA stores in Gatineau, Que., have found an innovative way of giving back to their communitya lottery. Since 2011, they’ve raised more than $1 million for Moisson Outaouais, the local food bank.
In 2013, the stores pulled together and created a Loto-Moisson, an annual fundraising campaign selling lottery tickets. This year’s donation of $217,000 put the total funds raised over the million mark.
“We are lucky to count on the continued support of the region’s RONA stores,” declared Armand Kayolo, general manager of Moisson Outaouais. “These stores’ employees and customers show exemplary dedication and generosity year after year. In a context where 29,000 people live with food insecurity in the Outaouais region, our partners’ invaluable support plays a key role in helping us fight hunger and foster hope in the area.”
Running from May to September, the Loto-Moisson is the food bank’s biggest annual fundraising campaign. One in 27 peopleand one in three childrenin the Outaouais region face food insecurity.
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A SIMPLE GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE: PART ONE
First, figure out what you’re trying to do with all your digital communications. When you have an ultimate goal in mind, referring back to your purpose each step of the way in your digital build will help keep your plan on track.
Your website is likely your most crucial starting point to build a digital strategy around. To refine it, ask yourself a few key questions:
1. Why are you having people visit your site? Is it to drive direct purchases, to educate or do you simply want people to know who you are and where you are?
2. Why do people want to visit your site? The crucial difference here is between why you want people visiting your site and why they want to visit. These may not always be the same reasons.
Remember, digital is simply a newer method of accomplishing the same goals you’ve always had. The digital age offers us the ability to analyze results much deeper than before, measure ROI better and change to meet consumer needs faster than ever.
(You’ll find the second part in this series in our November issue of the newsletter.)
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