What Makes The Handmade House Different from Other Local Shops?
There are plenty of places to discover beautiful handmade products, but The Handmade House was created to be more than a place to put your products on a shelf.
We believe that when local makers succeed, the whole community benefits. That’s why everything we do is built around real relationships, genuine community, and a commitment to helping small businesses thrive.
What Makes The Handmade House Different?
01 — Truly Local
When we say local, we mean local.
Our vendors are typically within an hour or two of our stores. These aren't products sourced from across the country or businesses we deal with purely virtually — they're people we know.
We know their stories, their businesses, their creativity, and the work that goes into what they make.
That's what makes our community feel like a community.
02 — Handmade Means Handmade
When we say handmade, we mean that the maker has genuinely had their hand in it — whether they designed, created, crafted, assembled, or thoughtfully developed it themselves.
We're intentional about curating products that celebrate creativity, craftsmanship, and the people who make them, as opposed to mass-manufactured products simply being resold.
Every shelf has a story behind it.
03 — You Keep 100% of Your Sales
Our vendor model is simple: you rent your space, and you keep 100% of your sales.
We don't take a commission from every product you sell.
We believe you should benefit fully from the work you've put into your business. Our job is to provide the retail environment, exposure, support, and community to help you succeed.
04 — We're Invested in Your Success
You're not just renting a shelf and being left to figure things out on your own.
Our team is here for all of our vendors.
We believe in open communication, collaboration, and creating a partnership where we can work together toward your success.
That includes complimentary support like:
- Visual merchandising sessions to help you make the most of your shelf space
- Online & social media audits to help strengthen your digital presence
- Marketing and promotional opportunities to get your products and story in front of more people
- Community events and networking opportunities to connect with other local makers
We don't expect you to be an expert in retail, marketing, merchandising, and social media.
That's part of what we're here for.
05 — It's More Than Shopping
Something special happens when you create a space filled with creativity, colour, handmade products, and local stories.
We've had people tell us that they come into The Handmade House even when they're not looking to buy anything — simply because being here makes them feel good.
And we love that.
Mental well-being matters to us. We want the shop to be a place where you can wander, get inspired, discover something beautiful, connect with people, or simply take a little break from your day.
Sometimes you don't need to shop. You just need somewhere that feels good to be.
06 — We Enjoy Pouring Into Our Community
We don't just want to be a business in the community. We want to be a business that contributes to it.
From purse donations and community initiatives to sponsoring local teams, we look for ways to give back and support the people and organizations around us.
Because being local means more than selling local products.
It means showing up for your community.
07 — We Believe in Relationships
At the heart of The Handmade House are relationships — not transactions.
We value the vendors who have been with us through different seasons of their businesses. We value the customers who continue to walk through our doors. We value the people who tell their friends about us, support local makers, and keep coming back.
Loyalty matters to us.
We want to build something lasting — a community where makers feel known, customers feel welcome, and people genuinely want to be part of what we're creating.
We're Building It Together
At the heart of The Handmade House is a simple belief:
We're better when we work together.
When a maker grows, our shop grows.
When a customer discovers a new local business, our community grows.
And when we all choose to support one another, something bigger than a retail store is created.
You're Not Just Renting a Shelf.
You're joining a community.
You're gaining a retail home for your products, a team that's invested in your success, opportunities to learn and grow, and a network of fellow makers who understand what it's like to build something of your own.
You're becoming part of a place where handmade is intentional, local is personal, and community comes first.
That's what makes The Handmade House different.