A new app is letting Sarnia-Lambton residents shop local from the comfort of their own living rooms.
Shop Lambton is a free online directory, launched by the COVID-19 Business and Economic Taskforce and County of Lambton, that maps-out local stores and restaurants, their contact information, hours of operation, and how they're providing their goods or services amidst the changing economic landscape.
SLEP Economic Development Officer Shauna Carr said it's a way to support Sarnia-Lambton area businesses by connecting them with their consumers.
"It's a way to understand [recent] changes and hours, who's doing curbside pickup, who's doing delivery, what different aspects are looking like for our local businesses currently, including our community food programs," she said. "To make sure that folks who needed to access all the different food banks in all of the different areas of the county, would be able to do that fairly easily and quickly."
Carr said our local businesses are going to continue to be the lifeblood of our communities, as they always have been.
"They are the key to why our communities exist the way they do. They're the ones that promote local events, they support our sport teams, but they're also the way that we actually survive in this community. Small-medium enterprise in Sarnia-Lambton runs this economy," she said. "I am thrilled to be able to go and buy bread from a local baker and pick up my eggs from a local producer or farmer. I want to be able to support those folks with my dollars because if we keep those industries running and those businesses running, then our entire community is going to flourish, even through these difficult times."
Carr said they hope people continue to use the service even after the pandemic comes to an end.
The Shop Lambton Map can be accessed by visiting shoplambton.com and will be updated twice weekly.
Local businesses can fill out the registration form by clicking here.