Canadian Indies

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1	Welcome to the Big List of Canadian Indies!
2	Have you ever looked over the expanse of the Prairies and wished that all along the Trans Canada there was just Indie Shop after Indie Shop? Do you want to know what Indie store is in the next Canadian town you're going to visit? Is there a way for you to check the reviews of a product or brand before taking up a second job at Tim Horton's just to pay for shipping?
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4	Have you asked these questions, and others -- more rational ones -- when exploring the world of r/indiemakeupandmore?
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6	If you have ever wanted your cabinets full of Canadian products other than maple syrups. If you've wanted to smell exactly like that nude beach in Vancouver. If your cabinet is looking less exciting than the Bay of Fundy, and you're looking to become the arctic ice queen of eye shimmer, there hasn't been a good place to start looking to buy local.
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8	Until now.
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10	So stop it with the Canada Puns already. Let's get to the goods.
11	You're right. There's only so far a person can realistically take a moose joke. But there really is no end to what we as Canadians can do. The problem is our country is just so darn big, and our cell phone bills are so high, it's difficult to keep in good communication about the things we love. Our home-grown makers and shakers.
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13	How to use the List
14	The list is set up in two sections: Canadian Indies, and General Stores. For the purposes of this list, "Canadian Indies" are the stand-alone brands/stores linked directly to their independant homepage or Etsy store. "General Stores" is a (for lack of a better term) a catch-all site where you can purchase from more than one Canadian Indie at a time.
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16	There are nine headings in the Canadian Indies list:
17	📛 Company Name - Details the official name of the company.
18	👩‍💻 Website - The official website/store for the company
19	🏙️ City - The city where the company ships from
20	🛬 Province - The province where the company ships from
21	📦 Shipping Tips - At the time of writing/input, any shipping tips are included here. These may be coupon codes, or notes on minimum order for free shipping.
22	✨ Specialties - This briefly outlines what the brand specializes in. That's not to say that the company doesn't sell diverse goods, but getting specific early helps with quickly understanding and deciding how you're going to explore the world of Canadian Indies.
23	💄 Products to Try - If a submitter has a Holy Grail product, or something that they absolutely love from this brand, I'll do my best to include it here. Suggestions are great for drawing your own road map as you navigate the world of Indies. And they might pull you in directions you may not have taken yourself!
24	📝 Community Notes - If the community's got something to say about it, then let it be known.
25	🤟 Who is this company owned by, or who does it celebrate? - If you're looking to support a specific maker/owner, there are opportunities to identify and characterize the maker's values or initiatives
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27	Details about Community Notes
28	The intention of Community Notes is to share information about Canadian brands about the experiences of Canadian consumers. For example: Eva's Bath Bomb Bakery is based out of Aylmer, Québec, and they only sell their goods locally and in Hintonburg, Ottawa. Pick up only. Community Notes are NOT for sharing your opinions of the brand, reviews of products, or complaining about Canada Post. We all already know that Canada Post sucks.
29	Community Notes are great for:
30	- Stating an 'insider tip'. For example, if a seller, with proper communication is willing to do custom orders, or facilitate shipping needs.
31	- Sharing information about samples.
32	- If a company on the list has closed shop since being added to the list.
33	- And other things I haven't thought of yet.
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35	Using Google Sheets' Comment Feature
36	The reason I chose to use Google Sheets for this project is because if it takes off, I want to be able to offer up how the list takes its direction by the community that uses it. If you have a Community Note to share, highlight the Community Note cell on the Company line, and make your comment. I will be moderating comments to keep them down to comments that are useful and helpful, and not conversational. Conversations, my dear Canucks, are meant for r/indiemakeupandmore. This is simply data. Think of it as the Long-Form Census.
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38	I want to help!
39	Great. I need all the help I can get because as I'm writing this, I'm thinking that I bit off more than I can chew. What I have compiled here is what I can think of off the top of my head from my experience living in Victoria, British Columbia and my (new!) experience living in Gatineau, QC and working in Ottawa, ON. Let's see how quick we can get at least one Indie from every province and territory! If you know of an Canadian Indie brand that's not on this list, fill out this form:
40	https://goo.gl/forms/CrMmuCDEVbThg7uf1
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42	Your form submissions will be added to the Form Responses Sheet in this document. Over time, I will move these submissions over onto the "official list" once I am sure that the website link that was submitted clearly states the city and/or province that the indie is found in, and ... any other points of order that I haven't been able to think of while writing this.
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44	Be Kind. And Polite. Say 'Sorry' when you got'ta, eh?
45	Just be a good person. I really see this as a useful resource that we can all get behind. Don't be that person who ruins it for the rest of us.
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