A pair of Comox Valley stay-at-home moms have started an online business that specializes in gift boxes.
The Comox Box offers a variety of products produced by local merchants, from wines and chocolate to candles and bath/body products. Bath salts with CBD oil have been a hot item.
“Everything is handmade,” said Tara Petty, who recently started the business with Sonia Leger.
They’ve relied on word-of-mouth and social media to attract customers.
“There’s so much support coming our way. It’s surprising the traction that it’s getting, and the orders. It’s blowing me away,” Petty said.
“We’re trying to promote local products, and make it easy for the customer to purchase them online. When COVID started, I found it hard to go to any store with my kids and to buy local. So I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was just one company that can have the local product and deliver it straight to your door?’ It could be for gifting someone or it could be for yourself.”
Some boxes are pre-made, but the most popular item is build-your-own-box. Patrons select packaging — bag, box or crate — select the products and check out their purchase.
For now, the focus is the Comox Valley, but Petty and Leger eventually hope to branch out across the Island.
“A lot of people that don’t know these mom and pop shops, they work out of their homes, so it’s a great way to bring that local product to their hand,” Petty said.
The Comox Box will be fully open after Aug. 31, meaning the product will be delivered the day after it is ordered.
FMI: www.thecomoxbox.ca