From bringing on new stores to facilitating sales at independently owned shops, 2025 was a big year at Haystack!
2025 was an exciting year at Haystack, thanks to all of our stores and shoppers! Nothing made us happier than hearing stories about how Haystack helped our neighbourhood shoppers find just what they were looking for and support our local shops! We gathered some of what was shared with us over the last year and we hope you enjoy reading some of this year's highlights as much as we did! A big thank you to the stores who helped us spread the word about Haystack and the shoppers who called us out publicly and supported us privately!
Here are some of our favourite shopper shout-outs:
“Love this. Used it yesterday to find shoe charms at a new to me store (Hanji) in The Beach. Told them about it too and they were just as thrilled as I was finding something easily. Congrats on the site. Super useful!”
“Guys. I am IN LOVE with the Haystack website. I drove around to a few east end shops today, looking for hedgehog themed items. I was not successful. Got home and searched on haystack and found tons! Now I know where to go tomorrow! Seriously it's like [Amazon] for your local community! If you haven't tried it out you MUST!”
“I was so excited by what I found in our area.”
“LOVE this!!! Have been looking for a local alternative for ages!”
“Just searched [on Haystack for toronto calendars] and they have a selection at midoco. Heading there now!... UPDATE: I found a nice Beaches calendar at Midoco on the Danforth.”
“Underwear and Haystack: Writing to shout out to https://www.haystackfinds.com/ for helping me find briefs in the neighbourhood today. Did you know Snug on the Danforth sells kid underwear, and that you can find adult sizes at a few places - including boxer briefs at Good Neighbour? So nice to have a search engine for local stores!”
“Ah!! I am so excited this is live! Can't wait to explore everything with it. Even searching "maple syrup" just now is showing me so many cool places I haven't heard of. ❤️”
“This is such a fantastic idea. This is exactly what we need. How can we get a PR campaign behind this? Reach out to media! Let's get the word OUT!”
“Found something I’d been trying to track down in my local stores. 🥰”
“Unfortunately, my schedule is too bananas for me to walk along Queen St. East and check out random shops so having specific places to check out is very very, VERY helpful! 💖💖💖💖... I very much appreciate this information! Thank you so so so so much.”
“I used this yesterday to find exactly what I was looking for locally. It’s great!”
“Found [a Bat Mitzvah card] at Pulp & Paperie thanks to Haystack!”