Virginia Ehrlich had always admired the craftspeople in her small town of Milverton, Ontario, who created everything from railway tie bottle openers to wooden vases at their kitchen tables. In 2017, during her maternity leave from her marketing job, she was inspired to start her own. She called her company Acre 75 Gift Box Co., after the 75-acre farm where she grew up in Mildmay, Ont. 

Her gift boxes would only feature items made in Canadian towns with fewer than 30,000 residents. Ehrlich knew firsthand the importance of local businesses–like the gift store and custom picture framing studio her mother ran on Mildmay’s main strip. “I thought [the approach] was going to be limiting, but it wasn’t whatsoever,” she says. “I could have thousands of items produced in small towns in each box.”

A few months after launching, however, Ehrlich wasn’t satisfied with sales. Instead of buying gift boxes, many customers wanted to buy the individual items directly from her website. So she turned her website into an online store selling small-town Canadian products, expanding her focus from gifting to everyday shopping. Still, after a year, she sought a more stable income that would guarantee she could cover her monthly bills.

To achieve this, Ehrlich shifted to a subscription-based model in April 2019. Subscription boxes have grown in popularity, allowing customers to pay in advance for curated products delivered regularly to their doorstep. They offer convenience and personalization for customers, and predictable, recurring revenue for business owners. According to Data Bridge Market Research, the global subscription box market was valued at $36.15 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $124.36 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16.7 per cent. 

Meal kit subscriptions, such as HelloFresh and Factor Meals, are among the most popular, but boxes focused on beauty, food, and wellness are also on the rise. Acre75, however, centres on lifestyle products, with seasonal boxes featuring six to nine carefully curated items, such as bath and body products, home goods, and gourmet snacks. Recent box themes include Maple and Merry, and Farmers’ Market. 

With this new subscription model in place, Ehrlich’s anxieties eased. Her revenue became more predictable, freeing her from the uncertainty of one-off sales that could fluctuate dramatically. Each seasonal subscription costs $99.95, allowing her to anticipate income and plan confidently for each season. Before adopting this approach, she had brought in just $25,000 in revenue over two years. But in the two years following the change, her revenue jumped to $164,000. Today, she consistently reaches multi-six-figure annual sales, with 2025 set to be her most successful year yet.

Less than a year after the shift, the pandemic hit. Foot traffic in local stores slowed, and the online business surged. “People were at home trying to find local products online, and that’s exactly what Acre75 offered,” Ehrlich says. By December 2020, her business had doubled from the year before, reaching 200 subscribers. Five years later, she has grown her subscriber base to 600 and has partnered with over 150 small-town businesses. 

For customers, Ehrlich says, the value of her subscription box service lies in the anticipation. “Research shows that having something to look forward to makes you a happier person,” she says. “I hear from my subscribers that the anticipation of the box arriving at their doorstep or them forgetting about it and coming home to see it is what keeps them subscribing.”

The subscription service offers substantial benefits to vendors, including guaranteed high-volume orders. It also provides exposure that retail stores can’t always match, with products backed by Acre75 arriving directly in customers’ homes. “It’s not like they’re going to sit on a shelf and risk never being purchased,” Ehrlich says. In addition to researching vendors herself, she hosts a maker application on her website, which receives hundreds of submissions each year. She also sources heavily on Instagram, though her favourite way to source makers, when time allows, is by visiting in-person markets. 

That’s where she met Jessica Best, owner of Forest & Brooks, a candle company based in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland. Her products were featured in Acre75’s box this fall after she met Ehrlich at a wholesale trade show in Toronto. Drawn to the candles, Ehrlich shared her own business journey and invited Best to join the subscription box.

“Being part of Acre75 helped Forest & Brooks reach more Canadian homes beyond Atlantic Canada and introduced our candles to new audiences, leading to a noticeable increase in orders shipped across the country shortly after,” Best says. Acre75 also brought one of their biggest wholesale orders to date, inspiring them to create a new scent specially for it.

To determine whether a product is a good fit for her boxes, Ehrlich evaluates its quality and packaging, shelf life, shipping durability, wholesale readiness, and storytelling potential. She strives to create cohesive boxes, considering how the products complement one another while reflecting small-town values and craftsmanship. Most seasons showcase new makers and fresh products. In exchange for the exposure and marketing she provides, such as “Meet the Maker” videos on Acre75’s website and social media reels, Ehrlich purchases her vendors’ products at wholesale prices and negotiates an additional discount.

Although she doesn’t track the long-term performance of brands after they’re featured in the box, Ehrlich notes that Forest & Brooks’ experience is far from unusual—many brands often see noticeable growth. For instance, when she recently included JC Cattle Co., a tallow company from Milverton, Ontario, in the box, the company reported its first sale outside the province shortly afterward. While 60 per cent of Acre75’s subscribers are in Ontario, most of the rest are spread across Canada, particularly in British Columbia, with about two percent located in the United States.

While Ehrlich says that being featured in a subscription box can be a valuable opportunity for any business, she urges business owners to ask key questions before signing on. She suggests they should understand the quantities required, clarify payment terms, confirm lead times, and know the marketing expectations. It’s also important to determine whether the order will be at wholesale pricing or cost. Additionally, Ehrlich recommends giving subscribers an easy way to continue supporting the business after discovering the product, such as offering a discount code or samples of other products, an approach she provides to her monthly sponsors.

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She says the greatest benefit of the subscription model is steady, reliable income. “Finances are such a source of anxiety for a small business owner. But now, when it gets tight at the end of each season, I know that [on a certain date], I’ll have an influx of cash in my account. Having a subscription service provides a real sense of safety and stability.”

The goal is to hit 1,000 subscribers by March 2026. This holiday season, she looks forward to packing Acre75 boxes with her mother, sister, cousins, sisters-in-law, and best friends—celebrating the same sense of connection that inspires her business.