TISDALE — A Tisdale-based business faced the heat on the set of the Dragon’s Den.
Little Town Apparel, owned by Scott and Kristie Homstol, sells clothing with designs promoting hometown pride for small communities around the country. It began just after the Town of Tisdale decided to change its slogan, causing a stir worldwide. Since then, it’s expanded to more than 100 communities across the nation.
“We were having really good success with it so we thought we could use some help with sourcing product, marketing and advertising, mentorship, that kind of thing,” Scott Homstol said.
So they went to Saskatoon for an audition to the CBC reality television show. They made a pitch much like the ones that appear on the show. From there, the producers decided which pitches would be filmed in Toronto. Little Town Apparel made the cut.
Even though Little Town Apparel’s pitch was filmed, there’s no guarantee they’ll appear on television. They could appear anytime during the 13th season of the show, which begins in September and goes into 2019. If they do appear on the show, the Homstols will receive five weeks notice.
Scott said it was nerve-wracking but exciting at the same time to be on set.
“Everything’s on a very tight schedule while you’re there,” he said.
“You’re getting rushed around from make-up to getting mic’d up to standby – because you could be called in to do your pitch at any moment. It’s kind of a whirlwind when you’re in there.”
The producers are also doing interviews backstage that can be used for background information and for promotions.
Scott said with his experience, he’s going to look at reality television a little bit differently.
“It was neat seeing the behind the scenes stuff, just how everything works from an internal point of view on a television set.”
Because the Homstols are under a non-disclosure agreement, they can’t say what happened with their encounter with the dragons until their pitch is aired or the season’s over.
Meanwhile, Scott said after a year of cautious growth to make sure they can meet demand for their products, Little Town Apparel is planning to start to promote itself more over the next little bit.
