Women entrepreneurs driving business in downtown Port Perry, Ontario

With more than half of the businesses in Port Perry’s historic downtown owned by women, it’s safe to safe to say woman have a significant share of the small business power base in the little tourist town on the shores of Lake Scugog.

Considering it’s only been sixty years since women were allowed to open a bank account in Canada without their husband’s signature – a time when just a third of working-age women were actually employed – we have come a long way as a society since then.

Recent political events that have some concerned we may be slipping back notwithstanding, the future of small business in small towns like Port Perry world is bright, thanks to local women entrepreneurs who run accounting firms, law offices, art galleries, clothing stores, bakeries, jewelry shops and even a historic café and inn that’s been in operation for nearly 130 years.

Sharon Runnals, who co-owns Branching Out Florists and serves on the board for the community’s BIA, said over the last 20 years there has been a “real shift” in the demographics. “At one time on Queen Street in Port Perry most of the businesses were male-owned.”

All that is changing, and not just in Port Perry, she added.

“If you visit many small-town main street business/retail stores you will find that a majority of them are women-owned and often a client or customer is now being served by the owner.”

Runnalls and her business partner Jane Ekstein credit their mothers for instilling in them a strong work ethic and both emphasize the importance of having mentors who can guide and push you to reach your full potential – a sentiment that echoes through Port Perry’s business community.

Christy Stone-Curry, whose roots in Port Perry’s business environment go back more than half a century to when her grandparents bought four properties downtown in 1972, runs the Piano Inn and Café – a building that has been around since the late 1800s. It was once the site for her grandfather’s real estate company and is now in the hands of Stone-Curry and her husband Rob.

Having mentors was super important when they opened the Piano Inn in 2002, she said.

Stone-Curry had just lost her job in the HR sector and had applied for a government grant for women in business in rural Ontario in the months following 9-11. “It was the best thing because it wasn’t just money, it was five different mentors that worked with you through the first year of your business. And it was especially (designed) for women so we did training on how to be assertive – which I found interesting because they probably don’t give that training to men.”

Opening a new business is always scary, especially when you are still in your 20s and those early days were not without difficulties. She faced her share of naysayers who said she wouldn’t last more than a year and “how could anybody survive doing just lunch?” and was scrutinized in the beginning because the building belonged to her father.

“I got a lot of ‘oh your father gave you a job’ so obviously I was biting my tongue with that,” she remembered. But that family background and living in a small town also helped. “People supported the restaurant because of the location and because everybody knew my family.”

She also had to clarify a few times with male tradespeople who “didn’t understand” that she was the one writing the cheques. “So they could listen to me just as well as they could listen to my husband.”

There have been four generations of businesses in the historic building since her family bought the property, from her grandfather’s successful real estate company to an ice cream parlour – Matt’s Soft Serve – opened by her son during the pandemic when he was just eight years old. “That’s a whole other story,” she said with a laugh.

Owning a historic property also comes with its own set of challenges.

“All of the commercial units were restored beautifully inside and out, but the upstairs not so much, so we did a massive renovation when we opened a hotel,” she said. “But there’s always things going wrong in these buildings. My floors need shims all the time for the tables because the floor is original from 1885. The basement you bang your head on every time you go down – we have big signs and flags but if you’re over five-foot-nine you smash your head.”

The buildings come with a lot of labour involved, she added, remembering earning seven dollars an hour as a teen “scraping bricks in the hot sun” with her cousins to remove lead paint. “The buildings are beautiful … but it’s a lot of work managing them.”

Christy Stone-Curry and Jack Reacher star Alan Ritchson. Photo Toronto Life

The business thrived through the first two decades before the pandemic hit and Stone-Curry became the ‘queen of pivoting’ to keep the cafe going, though the real saviour was the booming movie production business in the Port Perry area and especially the television series ‘Jack Reacher,’ which used the Piano Café as a break room (and for a few fight scenes) and the hotel as changing rooms.

“There has been a huge increase in film tourism in the Piano Café since we opened the boutique hotel 15 years ago – we’ve really been driving traffic to Port Perry to stay overnight,” she said. “I make sure that I talk to all the customers when they come in and I tell them all about the different films and movies that have been happening because people really like that.”

“We do try to have a multifaceted approach to our business. There’s the café, which is the main business. There’s the hotel upstairs. There are also commercial tenants on either side of us that we collaborate with every once in a while, to keep fresh and there is also the film tourism so those components are real and just keeps on turning.”

The business is busy enough that she made the decision to close the cafe Sundays and Mondays to try to achieve that work/life balance.

The challenges of being in charge of a small business is something Jennifer Noble has been aware of since she opened her Mrs. Fields cookies franchise nearly three decades ago. She has been satisfying the sweet tooths of her Port Perry neighbours and the tourists who flock to the town’s historic waterfront since then.

Jennifer Noble of Mrs. Fields in Port Perry

Noble believes that many of the challenges women face in starting their own business are the same for men: financing, finding the right location and the unpredictable nature of the business environment.

“Launching a business has always been both a tricky and challenging prospect – you need to absolutely love what you are doing and build a solid base of customers that become your friends,” she noted. “It’s with that positive relationship with your customers that helps you get through tough economic times.”

The secret to longevity in business, she says, is to “truly love what you do.”

“I am passionate about food and providing my customers with feel-good items that not only satisfy their sweet tooth but also provide a nostalgic hug, especially on those tough days. You also need to keep listening to what your customers are asking for and to keep a finger on the pulse on upcoming trends.”

Mrs. Fields Bakehouse Cafe, Port Perry

The Port Perry location was the first street-front Mrs. Fields in Canada, with the traditional model for the franchise found most often in shopping malls. “We are looking to replicate our success in Port Perry in other towns across Canada that have a similar mix of local residents and tourist foot traffic.”

From bean counters to bean sellers, Port Perry’s historic downtown has more than its share of unique and often tourism-centric businesses, with the lion’s share – or lioness, to be precise – owned and operated by women.

• There’s Dana’s Goldsmithing, a business that Dana Smith transformed from a local jeweler to an industry leader selling all types of custom and non-custom jewelry.
• There is also Brittany and Bros, run by Tammy Thompson, who opened her first location in Lindsay and now has three locations, including one in downtown Port Perry. The store is a go-to destination for clothing, footwear and accessories, with each boutique offering its own stylers and trending pieces.
• And there’s META4 Gallery, which was founded in 2005 by four visionary women: Birgitta MacLeod, Bonnie Thompson, Jennifer Hardie, and Carey Nicholson. META4 is a testament to the power of collaboration and a space (now run by MacLeod and Thompson) dedicated to appreciating unique, original, and exceptional art.

All these entrepreneurs are contributing to the diverse and thriving business landscape in the little town by the lake.

Runnals believes Port Perry offers a “unique experience” for people who come here to shop, particularly downtown. “The lake along with the historic charm and atmosphere leave a very strong impression with tourists. They always want to come back and with our BIA area not being far from the city or outlying areas around us people always come back.”

She often talks with customers who “make a point” of coming to shop at least a couple of times a year. “People still are looking for an experience.”

Downtown Port Perry. Photo Daniel Palmer