A Cape Breton sock monkey business has received the license to use this year’s Canada 150 logo.
Monkeys and More says they simply applied for the license online.
“We were accepted. We didn't think we would be, but we were,” said staff member Nicole Kearney. “It's tripled our business. It's getting us into places that never thought about selling sock
The business is run out of Kearney’s family home in New Waterford, N.S. The license grants permission to make four different types of sock monkeys.
"It opens up so many possibilities to us,” Kearney said. “We can possibly get into a lot more stores now. We have much more visibility, as well, with the Canada 150 logo."
Dale Kearney says the sock monkeys are locally made, with each taking about four and a half hours to make.
“It's a lot better than manufactured ones you buy overseas,” he said. “They're a lot better quality. There's care put into them."
Orders are pouring in already. Their goal is to sell thousands of Canada 150 critters by year's end.
Business owners are also excited to play a small part in a year-long national celebration.
"It's good to promote our country,” Dale Kearney said. “Canada's an awesome country to live in. There's hardly any problems here. It's just a good country to live in."
The sock monkeys are already soaring in popularity. The Kearneys say it’s part East Coast charm, and partly because they're unique
"They're adorable,” Sherrie Kearney said. “They're cute. It's an old craft that's come back."
By the time Canada's 150th birthday comes to a close, the people at Monkeys and More hope 2017 will have proven to be their best year yet.
"To get bigger, expand, hire more people, give some more employment to folks that need it," said Dale Kearney.
And to make monkey business part of a milestone in our nation's history.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
