January 09, 2001

Lynda and I became the new owners after much deliberation, debate, and careful consideration of this life-changing decision—we decided to take the plunge! We were purchasing our favourite store since its opening in 1991 from the current owner Sandie Bosworth. Over the past twenty-five years, we've experienced numerous personal and business transformations. The journey has been filled with both highs and lows, but ultimately, the highs have far outweighed the lows. We've truly enjoyed bringing the joy of birds to our customers throughout these twenty-five years.

It's interesting to see how a small, customer-focused family business can evolve. Initially, we were the "young" couple with two kids, running the store seven days a week. Within eight months, we hired our first part-time employee, who was the son of one of our customers, and soon his father joined the team as well. If you've ever met Adam in the store, he's the brother and son of those original employees.

Lynda and I have grown together with our business. Before we even owned the store, we loved feeding birds in our backyard and were active in local bird watching. As our business expanded, we started going on overnight trips to well-known birding destinations such as Point Pelee. Thanks to some customers who ran a small local bird banding station, we got involved in ornithological research projects. This sparked our enthusiasm for volunteering at several bird banding stations (located in Canada, South Africa and the United States) and after years of learning, we gained the skills and experience to become licensed bird banders and we joined the Simcoe Bird Banding Group research team.

Today, Lynda is retired and devotes most of her time to our grandchildren, while I am semi-retired, focusing primarily on strategic management, marketing, purchasing, and product review from home. While I continue to work in the store on weekends, changing demographics have led many newer customers to regard me as a part-time employee, while Kyle, our Store Manager and former customer, manages daily operations Monday through Friday. His contributions have been invaluable since joining our team.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our customers. Your ongoing support over the past twenty-five years—whether through shopping at our store or sharing stories about your birds, families, and adventures—has meant so much to us. We truly appreciate the relationships and memories that have grown from these connections, and we are grateful for the trust and loyalty you have shown throughout our journey.

Our Grand Opening End of Day