On Friday, March 13, 2020, we went to the grocery store and got haircuts.
Who knew that those two things would be the activities we would long for as we retreated into our homes for the duration of a spiking global pandemic.
When the State of Rhode Island closed down in March 2020, the Visual Thrive team was working hard to make sure that our clients were taken care of, and constantly communicating with their customers. But one day, while sewing masks, Lori realized that most small businesses were really struggling without some online way to get to their customers.
We knew their businesses weren’t going to be able to sustain a long-term closure if they didn’t have an easy way to communicate immediately.
And in true entrepreneurial style, we dove in to support RI's businesses. The first iteration of the site was launched in the very early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, pulled together - from conception to deployment - in one weekend. A business directory, launched on March 16, 2020 gave every business that wanted to join, their own online page.
Visual Thrive Marketing Group proceeded to create
Rhode Island's first comprehensive, fully functional online marketplace - ShopLocalRI.com.
