Help Sable Shortbread Relocate

Help us move and set up a new location.

We’re Duncan, Julia and Lorraine: brother, sister and Mom. Ten years ago we started a cookie company and over these last ten years our little cookie company, Sable Shortbread, has grown from selling cookies at one farmers market to a multiple award winning brand with an international following. 

Originally, we wanted the company to provide employment and a source of income for Julia, a person with a disability and barriers to employment. It has become so much more, providing employment for others and supporting our family as our livelihood.   In this post-Covid season things are still a challenge and cash flow is tricky but we’ve been hanging in and we had high hopes that 2024 would be the year we’d see improvements in this area. And it’s all up in the air now, thanks to having to relocate unexpectedly.

We were happily tucked up in our bake shop in Kentville, Nova Scotia starting in 2019. Our lease was set to expire at the end of 2024 except that in mid-2023, the landlord informed us that we’d have to move - that they intended to terminate our lease early. 

So, we had to make a plan. We had to choose between a legal battle or making a plan to accept the inevitable. We arranged to move at the end of February 2024.  We had no idea how we would make this happen and we knew that we’d need help to make this happen. But, we had no choice. We took a leap of faith. We trusted that it would all work out.

We hoped to find a new location in a vibrant community. We looked for a location that would be closer to our home to shorten our commute. We were seeking a landlord that would be good to work with.

We have met those goals. Now we need to get up and running again so we can get back to earning a living.  We’re scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel to make this happen. Progress has been slow but we’re seeing positive movement. 

The next steps in our business plan will have to wait because all our resources are now focused on rebuilding.

Months and months of managing a difficult relationship instead of managing for growth, has taken its toll. Even through Covid, even post Covid, we’re not saying it hasn’t been hard and that margins aren’t razor thin but we’ve found new markets, driven ourselves to be more, make more, do more. And it has been working. But, we are not sure we can do this without help. There is no buffer after years of lockdowns, inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues. It’s going to take $25-30,000 just to move, relocate, build out and get back up and running.  This was all brought about by external forces which we never expected to be dealing with. 

So far we’ve been maintaining and getting a little done each week.  We have heard from many others that commercial landlords are increasing rents, evicting long time tenants and generally trying to recoup their losses after the economics of a pandemic.  But not all landlords are taking the short view and we are pleased to be working with a new perspective in our new space. 

We love that you are on this journey with us and we hope you will continue along with us. If you are able to help us raise the rest of the funds we need to take this leap of faith, bless you. If you can pray for us, thank you. If you can buy cookies or a gift certificate we appreciate it. If you can share this message with others who might support us, please do. If you can do all of these – we’ll be grateful!