Sharing our love of small town Canada

— and the business owners at the heart of it all.

There’s nothing quite like coming home to the small town you know and love.

The change of pace. That quiet, familiar feeling.

If you’re anything like me, you take comfort in walking into your favourite local restaurant knowing you’re guaranteed to recognize most people in it.

Returning to your small-town roots is a sound reminder of what’s truly important in life—you feel the urge to slow down, savour the moment, and enjoy time with the people who matter most.

This small town feeling is what we aim to capture with our Canadian subscription box, Acre75 Gathered. All the details are carefully considered when we hand-package each box with love.

Back to our Roots

I’m Virginia, the founder of Acre75.

Welcome to my little corner of the internet!

I’m proud to say I was born and raised on a 75-acre farm outside the small town of Mildmay, Ontario—the place that inspired our name.

Mildmay represents exactly what every small town is supposed to be. Neighbours helping neighbours and a small-town pride that’s hard to beat.

When I was growing up, my Mom owned a small business on Main Street and played a vital role in the community, often organizing events with the help of other Mildmay business owners. From a young age, I recognized the small businesses in town made up the fabric of our community.

The restaurant, the co-op, the cozy Main Street shops—these businesses and their owners were relied upon to help the town thrive.

The same can be said for most small town communities across Canada.

With the Acre75 Gathered box, I set out to give those small town
businesses—the ones that depend on organic growth and word-of-mouth marketing to flourish—the opportunity to showcase their one-of-a-kind, locally-made goods to a wider community.

Each season, we collaborate with small town makers across Canada to curate our lifestyle subscription boxes—proudly promoting their locally-made goods and putting their little towns on the map.

Meet the Makers

That’s what I love about this business. We make shopping local as easy and accessible as shopping anywhere else, connecting you with places you may not have otherwise heard of.

There’s just something special about knowing exactly where a product was made and by whom. Whether it’s from Walter’s Falls, Ontario or Sooke, British Columbia, or maybe even Mildmay, it’s our honour to bring a little piece of small town Canada to you.

It’s been quite the journey, but with your help, our subscription boxes have proudly put thousands of dollars back into Canadian small-town economies, from coast to coast.

I have since left Mildmay and have a family in another tiny map dot in Perth County, Ontario, but I’m often pulled back to my hometown to rest and rejuvenate. Half of my heart will always belong to Mildmay.

That small town feeling is pretty hard to beat.

Fun Facts about Acre75

• Acre75's namesake is the 75-acre farm our founder, Virginia, grew up on!

• We’ve proudly supported close to 100 small-town makers across Canada.

• We collaborate with business owners in small towns with populations of less than 30,000.

• We support mental health services in remote communities across Canada and have donated over $4000 to rural mental health initiatives.

• Acre75 Gathered was recognized as the Silver winner of the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest in 2019

• Acre75 Gathered was voted as the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Best Subscription Box That Gives Back and the 2024 BEST OVERALL BOX in the Canadian Subscription Box Awards hosted by A Year of Box!

• Our tissue paper is 100% vintage small town! We use copies of Virginia's hometown newspaper that her Nana saved over the last five decades!