Success Starts Small
Ottawa Business Stories is your window into the heart of the city’s entrepreneurial spirit. More than just a directory, this page brings local businesses to life by telling their stories—how they started, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the passion that drives them. From family-run cafés with decades of history to innovative startups shaping the future, each feature dives into the people behind the brands, their inspirations, and their impact on the community. Discover the journeys that make Ottawa’s businesses more than just places to shop or dine—they’re the lifeblood of the city, each with a tale worth sharing.
Costs rise, but local businesses persevere – how do they do it?
“It’s our expertise, good customer service, it’s our knowledge of the products, it’s everything that justifies spending a dollar or two more,” said Aidan Connolly, a butcher at Around the Block Butcher & Market.
With the rising costs of inflation and economic instability, many local businesses are closed because they simply cannot afford to continue to work for themselves.
Around The Block Butcher & Market, a family run butcher and deli shop operating for 11 years, has opened a shop in Centrepoint and have been there for 11 months.
Regarding the costs of inflation and challenges made, how and why do they do it?
“We’ve had to go through several major obstacles facing this business,” said David Wallace, an Algonquin College culinary management alumni and owner of Around the Block Butcher & Market.
Over the past years, the costs of everything kept increasing for their store. Not just from the product being sold by them, but also what they need to buy for themselves as well.
“It’s our expertise, good customer service, it’s our knowledge of the products, it’s everything that justifies spending a dollar or two more,” said Aidan Connolly, a butcher at Around the Block Butcher & Market.
Inflation for the past five years has affected everyone in Canada, beef prices also went up eight years ago. COVID-19 is not far from today either and the effects of it are still seen.
Many local businesses in Ottawa had to close during the pandemic, however, Around the Block Butcher & Market is just one of the survivors who pushed through. Again, how did they do it?
They focused on creating a positive experience for their customers and trying to build connections with their surrounding community. These loyal customers are the main foundation to allow them to continue to work.
Also, to meet the middle, they try to balance out the prices that are fair for both the customers and their business.
“it’s very tricky to operate, we have nice upscale local goods but it’s very difficult to balance the pricing in exchange for the work put in,” said Connolly.
Many people visit their store every day and appreciate the work put forth by the team, sadly they do not receive as much support from government regarding entrepreneurship as much as the community does.
“It’s one of my favourite shops; the quality of their food is fresh and way more better than something like Loblaws or FreshCo,” said Archie Blackned, an Algonquin College culinary skills student. “I got a turkey from here for Thanksgiving and that was probably the best I’ve had.”
The business continues to face all odds, but for them to make it, adapting and changing with the times is what keeps them afloat.
“Despite all the effort, risk and stresses that come with running a small business that’s heavily leveraged in 2025, this is has been a complete pleasure and privilege to do this,” said Wallace.
Comic book store’s survival in today’s digital age
The constant growth of the digital age has taken over the globe since computers have been around and traditional print is slowly lost to time.
The Comic Book Shoppe has operated for 30 years in Merivale, Ottawa. They have faced many challenges throughout the years, and we are in an age where you can buy everything you need online. How do they keep their store alive?
“For a store like this to survive, where comics are the bread and butter of everything, you need to have a foot in every area of the market,” said Steven Arthur, manager of The Comic Book Shoppe.
Arthur has been the manager of the shop for the past five years and has faced challenges during this time, one of them being the livelihood of the digital age. This alone is enough to create a big challenge for a bookstore’s customers.
The ease of ordering books online is just a few clicks away, a place could be selling something at a cheaper price, or for the want of zero human interaction. These kinds of scenarios create problems for this store, so how do they counter that?
Arthur has been a lifelong fan of comics, Marvel, DC, you name it. With this being said, he also understands other fans like himself. One of his main goals when a customer walks in through the door is to ensure a human interaction is made, getting to know the person, talk about the comics they are buying, etc.
“You’re not walking into Walmart and getting greeted; you might shop there for years and nobody in there knows you by name and what you’re in for,” said Arthur. “For us, it’s about the relationships you form.”
The store stays personal and connected with their customers, one of the things they do is they have subscriber boxes for weekly regulars to pick up their comics. Customers also look to them for recommendations based off their interests.
“Everybody needs to have something to distract themselves, comics are a form of distraction from reality, they’re also an allegory,” said Ryan Robbinson, a worker at The Comic Book Shoppe.
Usually, they sell their comics based off the interactions with their customers. As already mentioned, they get to know the person and sell the comic mostly based off the art cover. However, COVID-19 changed that, and they needed to adapt.
During the pandemic, The Comic Book Shoppe revamped their website and kept their merchandise up to date on it. The customer could safely digitally browse the selection the store had, pick out their books and it would be shipped to their doorstep.
“Comics are still an art form and sold mostly off their art, people like to pick up a book, flip through it. That’s how people take their chances, they pick a cover they like,” said Arthur.
Arthur runs the store because of the younger generation and seeing them explore their interests, being able to get them what they want, brings joy to him.
“At the end of the day at the Comic Book Shoppe, there’s nothing here that is a need for people. You don’t your comics to make it through the next day,” said Arthur. “It’s a want, it’s not water, it’s not food.”
One of Arthur’s most memorable moments was helping a mother find a specific Pokémon card for her child. He and his staff scoured the store looking for a Flareon card, her kid wanted to evolve her Eevee card.
According to Arthur, the kid placed the Eevee card in front of a fireplace for two weeks and the mom got the Flareon card for Christmas.
“We came through and found it for her, the kid was over the moon. The mom came back and showed us a video,” said Arthur. “We had a hard time finding it, we had sealed products, and we were ready to buy it for her because we loved the story so much.”
“You have to be dedicated and passionate, if you’re not passionate, it’s easy to get down sometimes because the market is ever shifting,” said Arthur. “Keep your head up and work your way through it.”