Help Us Open Chickadee Kids Company
Donation protected
Hi I’m Lisa, owner of Chickadee Family Café in Burlington, Ontario. I opened our business in March 2019 to provide a space for families to gather, have fun together and connect with other families. Our play café was a popular destination for young families with young children.
The effects of covid and these past few months of our play café’s closure has caused us to re-evaluate our business. After being shut down for several months, we faced closing our business permanently.
The main focus of our business – play dates, birthday parties, fun events – was based on the ability of people to socialize in groups. With the shut down of our business, a growing debt, and new social norms involving physical distancing coming into effect, our existing business would not be able to continue operating. We simply couldn’t envision people bringing their kids to play while wearing masks or installing plexiglass barriers between toy stations to help kids social distance.
Shutting down entirely would not only be devastating to our little family that has poured our hearts and family life savings into this business, but would also mean the end of this amazing community we’ve built. We have loved being a space that parents could come with their kids, to grab a cup of coffee to relax with a friend, enjoy a music class with their child, and feel not so alone in this parenting journey.
Like many businesses, we pivoted. We began to offer toys, crafts and books. And we are now ready to announce a permanent change in our business.
Chickadee Family Café will now be known as Chickadee Kids Company; a children’s toy and book store unlike any other you’ve seen. We will offer a wide selection of toys and books for children ages 0-6. Many of our toys will promote cooperative and imaginative play; which we know is so important in the development of cognitive and social skills. We will also have a strong focus on local products and will feature local handmade products, maintaining our strong connections to the local community.
Once allowed, our program room will offer even MORE small group activities for littles and their parents; from art classes to music to early literacy, sensory programs, and parenting workshops for grownups.
Our café will also continue to serve up the delicious coffees and teas that we know parents need, and of course our famous babyccinos for our little visitors. Our café area will also feature a small play section for kids including a little free library where you can borrow our gently used books.
We want to continue to be a cozy gathering place for families with young children. We know change is hard and many members of our community will be upset at the news of our play area's closure, but we are confident that this new business model will help us to continue to serve our community of young families. This will be a toy and book store like no other you've ever seen! One that is community focused and seeks to enrich the lives of young families.
We want to bring this concept to life, but we need to ask for your help!
The past several months of closure have put a huge strain on our financial resources and this transition is an expensive endeavour.
We are asking for your help in opening our new shop.
Every donation made will go directly to improving our space, to building our toy and book store and to redesigning our programs and activities for your littles, to provide you with the best experience when you visit us and a full calendar of events that support your parenting journey.
We plan to re-open our café area in June while our toy and bookstore portion undergoes renovation and re-open as Chickadee Kids Company in August, with programming resuming once allowed.
Thank you in advance for your support in this exciting new endeavour as we seek to save our business from the effects of covid closure and provide a new, safe space for you and your families to enjoy and love.
Thank you sincerely,
Lisa, Chris, Nathan and Abigail
The effects of covid and these past few months of our play café’s closure has caused us to re-evaluate our business. After being shut down for several months, we faced closing our business permanently.
The main focus of our business – play dates, birthday parties, fun events – was based on the ability of people to socialize in groups. With the shut down of our business, a growing debt, and new social norms involving physical distancing coming into effect, our existing business would not be able to continue operating. We simply couldn’t envision people bringing their kids to play while wearing masks or installing plexiglass barriers between toy stations to help kids social distance.
Shutting down entirely would not only be devastating to our little family that has poured our hearts and family life savings into this business, but would also mean the end of this amazing community we’ve built. We have loved being a space that parents could come with their kids, to grab a cup of coffee to relax with a friend, enjoy a music class with their child, and feel not so alone in this parenting journey.
Like many businesses, we pivoted. We began to offer toys, crafts and books. And we are now ready to announce a permanent change in our business.
Chickadee Family Café will now be known as Chickadee Kids Company; a children’s toy and book store unlike any other you’ve seen. We will offer a wide selection of toys and books for children ages 0-6. Many of our toys will promote cooperative and imaginative play; which we know is so important in the development of cognitive and social skills. We will also have a strong focus on local products and will feature local handmade products, maintaining our strong connections to the local community.
Once allowed, our program room will offer even MORE small group activities for littles and their parents; from art classes to music to early literacy, sensory programs, and parenting workshops for grownups.
Our café will also continue to serve up the delicious coffees and teas that we know parents need, and of course our famous babyccinos for our little visitors. Our café area will also feature a small play section for kids including a little free library where you can borrow our gently used books.
We want to continue to be a cozy gathering place for families with young children. We know change is hard and many members of our community will be upset at the news of our play area's closure, but we are confident that this new business model will help us to continue to serve our community of young families. This will be a toy and book store like no other you've ever seen! One that is community focused and seeks to enrich the lives of young families.
We want to bring this concept to life, but we need to ask for your help!
The past several months of closure have put a huge strain on our financial resources and this transition is an expensive endeavour.
We are asking for your help in opening our new shop.
Every donation made will go directly to improving our space, to building our toy and book store and to redesigning our programs and activities for your littles, to provide you with the best experience when you visit us and a full calendar of events that support your parenting journey.
We plan to re-open our café area in June while our toy and bookstore portion undergoes renovation and re-open as Chickadee Kids Company in August, with programming resuming once allowed.
Thank you in advance for your support in this exciting new endeavour as we seek to save our business from the effects of covid closure and provide a new, safe space for you and your families to enjoy and love.
Thank you sincerely,
Lisa, Chris, Nathan and Abigail
Organizer
Lisa Evans
Organizer
Burlington, ON