The year 2025 is the year of the ballot in St. Albert. We went to the federal polls to help choose a new prime minister in April, and we’ll be selecting a new mayor and council this October.
And, of course, there are your votes for the best local businesses in St. Albert, the winners of which you’re about to read in these pages.
There certainly doesn’t seem to be voter fatigue in town – we saw more than 49,000 votes cast for more than 1,400 local businesses and individuals this year in more than 110 different categories. That’s more than double last year’s votes!
That makes these awards even more relevant. In a world dominated by social media recommendations and online reviews that all seem to contradict each other, it’s hard to know who’s really the best.
Consider this your guide to the most trusted and most admired businesses in your community – crowdsourced by literally thousands of your fellow citizens.
The book “The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Surowiecki talks about this concept: put enough independent individuals together and the answers they come up with tend to be better than any one individual – even an expert – can do on their own.
That’s why we’ve been doing Readers Choice for more than 15 years in St. Albert. It’s a service to the community to aggregate your wisdom and present it to you in one simple package. And it’s available year-round, right on the top of our website.
There’s another important function that Reader’s Choice performs: it’s an opportunity to celebrate and to support the dedicated, community-minded local businesses who have won the support of you, our readers.
Some of these winners are multi-year winners of long standing, some are celebrating their first win – or a return to the top of the podium.
What they share is a dedication to quality, to customer service and to community service. That’s why you chose them.
The next part of the equation: make sure you support them all year round. It’s easier than ever to shop not just out of town, but out of country, right from your couch.
But remember before you click that “Buy Now” button: Amazon doesn’t support your local sports team. Facebook doesn’t employ local people. Your local small businesses – the ones in these pages – are the ones doing that.
The other thing those local businesses do is support the continued survival of local media – of the Gazette. Your patronage, and their advertising support, provide the critical revenue that makes it possible for us to tell St. Albert’s stories, to hold its elected officials accountable, and to celebrate our collective success.
It all starts with you – when you shop local.
CONGRATULATIONS to all the local businesses listed here, and thanks for your continued support of your customers and your community. Display your winner’s certificates with pride in your business, and know that it was a mighty wise crowd that gave it to you.
Tim Shoults
Publisher, St. Albert Gazette
