Important Update for Ontario Customers: One of a Kind Christmas Show This November
This is a hard note to write, because Ontario has shown up for us in such a steady and generous way over the years.
After a lot of discussion, we’ve made the decision that we will not be attending the One of a Kind Christmas Show this November/December.
We know many of you plan your holiday shopping around the show. Some of you come by every year to stock up, say hello, choose travel gifts in person, or bring friends and family to meet us for the first time. That support has meant more than we can properly put into words.
This year, we need to make the responsible choice for our team, our work, and the long-term health of what we’re building. For our Ontario customers, the most important thing to know is this:
If you are hoping to receive an order before Christmas, please place it as soon as possible on our website or give us a call - We'd love to chat!
We’ll do everything we can to get holiday orders packed and shipped with care, but ordering early gives everyone the best chance of avoiding seasonal delays.
Why we are not attending the One of a kind Christmas show this year
The reasons are simple, but they have not been easy to sit with.
Travel costs within Canada have kept rising
Bringing a team, inventory, displays, supplies, and everything needed for a major show across the country is a much bigger undertaking than it may look from the outside.
Travel within Canada has become more expensive, and the cost of doing a large out-of-province show now affects far more than 10 days. It changes what we can afford to make, how much time we can give to current orders, and how much pressure lands on the team before and after the event. Some of our supporters will recall last year when we fell short on a few of our Christmas deadlines.
We love meeting people in person. We love the energy of the show. But this year, the numbers and the timing simply do not make sense for us.
Our growing team needs support closer to home
As our team grows, our responsibility grows too.
That means making choices that keep our day-to-day work steady. It means making sure the people helping us make, pack, ship, answer questions, and keep things moving have the support they need locally.
A large show can be exciting, but it also pulls a lot of time and energy away from the workshop. Right now, we need to focus that time close to home so we can care for the work already in front of us, and the growing production queue for our 3D Cork Travel Maps.
We have been playing catch-up after a difficult year
This year has also been shaped by a major decline in American support.
That shift has had a real effect on our schedule, planning, and capacity. We’ve spent much of the year catching up, adjusting, and finding our footing again. That has made it even more important to choose carefully where our energy goes during the busiest season of the year.
Skipping the Christmas show is part of that choice. It gives us a better chance to serve our customers well, keep orders moving, and avoid stretching the team past what is healthy or sustainable. You'll also recall we experienced personnel injuries last November.
What this means for Ontario holiday orders
If you usually shop with us at the One of a Kind Christmas Show, we recommend ordering online as early as you can this year.
Holiday shipping always takes extra time. Weather, courier volume, Canada Post volume, rural delivery routes, and cross-country transit can all affect delivery windows. We do not want anyone waiting until the last minute and feeling disappointed if a gift does not arrive in time.
For Ontario customers, early ordering helps in three ways:
It gives your order more time to be made, packed, and shipped with care.
It reduces the risk of holiday delivery delays.
It helps our team spread the workload across the season instead of compressing everything into the final rush.
If you are buying for Christmas, please treat “as soon as possible” as the safest timeline. We would much rather help you early than rush your order late. Our current Production Time is
4-6 weeks, and it is growing daily.
We will miss seeing you in person
The hardest part of this decision is knowing we won’t get to see so many familiar faces this November.
The One of a Kind Christmas Show has never been just a sales event for us. It has been a place for real conversations. It's where we connect with you on a personal level, where you tell us how a gift was received, where someone finds a piece that feels just right, and where we hear stories that stay with us long after the booth is packed away.
Those moments matter.
So if you were planning to visit us at the show this year, please know that we will miss that connection too. This decision was not made because Ontario matters less. It was made because we want to keep showing up in a way that is thoughtful, sustainable, and honest about what our team can carry right now.
We will be back for the 2027 One of a Kind Spring Show
This is not goodbye to One of a Kind.
We are very happy to share that we will be attending the 2027 OOAK Spring Show next year.
That gives us time to prepare properly, rebuild our rhythm, and return with the care and energy the show deserves. We’re already looking forward to being back in Ontario, seeing familiar customers again, and meeting new ones in person.
The spring show feels like the right next step. It gives us breathing room after a demanding year and lets us return when we can do it well.
Thank you for understanding
We know this update may be disappointing, especially for those who were planning to shop with us in person this November. We’re disappointed too.
At the same time, this choice helps protect the quality of our work, the health of our team, and the relationships we value most, including the one we have with our Ontario supporters.
Thank you for continuing to support, share, encourage, and show up for us in so many ways.
If you need gifts before Christmas, please place your order as soon as possible. We’ll be here, packing carefully, working steadily, and looking forward to seeing you again at the 2027 OOAK Spring Show.
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