Quebec company: a decorative wood stove for children is popular

A father from Lanaudière had the idea of ​​building a decorative wood stove for children in order to reassure his sons following his separation from his ex-partner in 2022. A year later, his creation can now be found in the four corners of Quebec.

“I tried to reassure my four-year-old son by explaining to him that we were going to move to a beautiful house surrounded by trees and his first reaction was to ask me if there was going to be a wood stove,” explains Mathieu Cloutier, founder of Ora.

“It threw me off my chair a bit because we didn’t have a cottage or a wood stove at home. But then I understood that by mentioning the trees, it had reminded him of the happy times we had spent as a family in a Sépaq chalet,” he adds.

Skilled with his hands, two weeks later he made a fake wood stove for a child which he installed in the new bedroom of his two young boys.

“It was a very anxiety-provoking context, but the home made it possible to create a unifying and calming place for them,” he explains.

Ora is born

After receiving many positive comments from those around him, the young entrepreneur finally made the decision to commercialize his idea.

Officially on sale since last October, the small Ora fireplaces which reproduce crackling sounds have already been installed in nearly 500 families as well as at Sainte-Justine hospital and in certain daycare centers.

Photo provided by Bien-Être Ora Inc.

“The role of Ora is really to bring well-being into homes, spend less time in front of screens in addition to creating a unifying place,” says Mathieu Cloutier.

The device is also connected to an application with a lot of audio content, such as stories.

“It’s literally a need that came out of a child’s mouth and wasn’t being met by the market. And at the same time, it allows us to bring our Nordic traditions back into our homes, and that’s wonderful,” he adds.

Vision of grandeur

Although his business is only a month old, the founder points out that he is already receiving requests from as far away as Australia for small homes for children.

“We really have a vision of grandeur to allow our traditions to continue in homes in Quebec, but also to export them all over the world,” he says. It’s difficult at the moment because we are not yet equipped for that, but our goal is really that by this time next year, we will already be sending orders to other country,” concludes Mathieu Cloutier.