Google review · Excerpt
Brendan is awesome.
(Google profile, opens in a new tab)
Google Maps
Service · Shopify Development
Custom Shopify Development.
Up North Creative designs and develops custom Shopify stores, built around your products, not a marketplace theme. Fast, mobile-first, and free of the app bloat that slows most stores down. Bespoke design, clean code, and a store that's genuinely easy to run.
Start a projectCustom Shopify builds by Up North Creative · Ontario & beyond
Recent project / Lacrosse All Day
I built Lacrosse All Day.
Shopify Development
Shopify is the platform. The build is everything.
Shopify is the best commerce platform in the world: reliable, secure, and trusted by millions of brands. But the platform alone doesn't set you apart. What separates a store that converts from one that stalls is how it's built: the theme, the speed, the product presentation, and how many apps are quietly dragging it down. Most stores run a purchased theme stretched with a dozen apps, and it shows: slow pages, a generic look, and a back-end the owner dreads touching.
I develop Shopify stores the right way: a custom theme coded from scratch, built for your products and brand, tuned for speed, and stripped of unnecessary apps. The result is a store that loads fast, looks like no one else's, and stays effortless to manage long after launch.
Explore servicesSound Familiar?
Common Shopify problems I build past.
A slow Shopify store running a bloated theme and a stack of apps.
I rebuild on a lean, custom-coded theme and replace app-based features with clean native code wherever I can. Fewer scripts, lighter pages, and a store that finally loads fast on mobile and desktop.
A generic theme that looks like every other store in your category.
I design and develop a bespoke Shopify theme around your brand, not a marketplace template with your logo dropped in. A distinct, premium storefront that makes shoppers trust you and remember you.
Products that don't sell because they're poorly presented.
I build considered product pages with strong imagery, clear hierarchy, confident merchandising, and buying details where they matter, so each product is shown at its best and the path to checkout is obvious.
A store that's a headache to update and manage yourself.
I structure your Shopify admin, collections, and content sections so day-to-day changes are simple. Add a product, run a sale, or swap a banner without touching code or fearing you'll break something.
Why Up North Creative
Custom-built websites. Built to perform.
Every site is custom-built by Up North Creative, with no off-the-shelf templates and no plugin bloat. Fast, secure, and built to help your business become the obvious choice.
Custom-built, never a template.
Every site is designed and coded from scratch around your business. No off-the-shelf theme, no generic layout: a website that looks like you, not like every competitor using the same template.
Custom theme, not a purchased template.
I don't buy a Shopify theme and bend it to fit. Your store is coded from scratch on Shopify's platform, so there's nothing generic, nothing unused, and nothing slowing it down, just clean code built around your products.
Performance-tuned Shopify, no app bloat.
Every extra app adds scripts that slow a store down. I build features natively wherever possible and keep the app stack lean, so your store loads fast, scores well on Core Web Vitals, and gives shoppers a smoother, faster path to checkout on mobile.
Mobile-first development.
Most of your customers find you on a phone. Every layout is designed at 390px first and enhanced from there, then tested across real devices so it's flawless where it matters most.
SEO-friendly from the ground up.
Clean semantic markup, proper heading structure, fast performance, and on-page SEO are part of the build, so you're ready to be found from day one.
Designed to convert.
Beautiful isn't enough. Every page is structured to move visitors toward action (a call, a booking, a sale), so your website earns its keep.
Yours to own and grow.
No locked-in platforms or hostage situations. You own your site, your domain, and your content, with the flexibility to grow as your business does.
Custom Shopify builds that stay easy to run.
A store built to sell and to manage. Lean, custom-coded, mobile-first, and organized so you can update products, collections, and content yourself, with the speed and ownership a serious ecommerce brand needs.
Design, development & support
The right build. Support beyond launch.
Custom websites
Design and development around the business, with forms, integrations and a clear content structure.
Custom WordPress
A structured editing setup when the team needs to manage its own content.
Technical SEO & support
Technical foundations, performance improvements, content updates and ongoing website care.
Client stories
Client stories.
A few words from the people
behind the projects.
Independent voices.
A shared standard of care.
The 5 reviews Google Maps selects as most relevant, shown newest first.
Review 1 of 5: LadyA
How I work
The process, from discovery to support.
From discovery through launch and beyond. Every Shopify store I build follows a clear, structured process, so you always know what's happening, and your store is set up to run smoothly long after it goes live.
Discovery
It starts with understanding your business, your customers, and what a website actually needs to do for you. Strategy before anything else.
Strategy
Page structure, messaging, and conversion goals get defined up front. Every page has a purpose and a clear path to action.
Design
Visual direction, typography, and brand come together. You see real design decisions, not generic wireframes.
Development
Clean, modern, custom code built for speed and reliability. You get a live dev link as soon as it's ready.
Launch
Domain, hosting, and performance checks: the technical go-live is handled for you.
Support
Launch isn't the end of it. Monthly care plans keep your site secure, updated, and performing as you grow.
Explore more
Explore more of what I do.
I build custom, high-performing websites and Shopify stores for brands and service businesses across Ontario, and for local businesses in communities throughout the region.
Common questions
Questions, answered.
Everything you need to know about building a fast, custom Shopify store with Up North Creative.
I build from scratch. Rather than buying a marketplace theme and forcing it to fit, I code a custom Shopify theme around your brand and products. That means no generic look, no unused bloat, and full control over performance and design.
Yes. It's one of the most common things I'm asked to do. I audit your theme and app stack, rebuild on clean custom code, and replace app-based features with native functionality wherever possible. The result is a lighter, faster store without the scripts that were dragging it down.
Absolutely. I structure your Shopify admin, collections, and editable content sections so everyday changes are simple: add products, launch a sale, or update a banner without touching code. And I also walk you through it after launch so you're confident running it.
Yes. I can rebuild an existing Shopify store on a custom theme, or migrate from another platform onto Shopify, moving products, collections, and content carefully and preserving your SEO with proper redirects so you don't lose rankings in the switch.
Yes. Monthly care plans cover hosting, SSL and monitoring, with options for updates, analytics, priority support and content edits.