Sun Valley grocery store to close after nearly 40 years, condo building to be built – Toronto | 24CA News
Sun Valley Market, an area establishment in Toronto’s Birchmount Park, can be closing its doorways for good on the finish of July.
The grocery retailer, which has been situated at Danforth Avenue and Birchmount Road, first opened its doorways in 1986 and can shut on July twenty ninth. The authentic Sun Valley location was a small mom-and-pop store opened in 1978, then opened a location on the Danforth in 1983, which additionally closed in 2010.
“The community has embraced us over the years, and we’ve embraced it; it’s been a joy supporting the community and doing whatever we can. That’s the part I’m going to miss,” mentioned Jim Bexis, a co-owner of Sun Valley Market.
And group is on show close to each end-cap, with clients shouting, “I’m going to miss you guys” or “I can’t believe” you’re about to shut to Bexis and his brother-in-law Peter Vacirtzoglou.
The two males took over the business from their shared father-in-law and have been working the grocery retailer for practically 20 years. They got here up within the business, Bexis having joined the corporate because the Birchmount location, whereas Vacirtzoglou began full-time in 2001, however beforehand labored as a supply driver now and again.
“This started as a part-time job and became a lifelong career. No regrets,” Vacirtzoglou mentioned.
The authentic hope for the 2 males was to maintain it within the household, then they even tried to promote it, however ultimately, they determined no person was trying to purchase a grocery retailer.
“Not too many people were interested. Seven days a week, morning till night, business has got tougher to make money, and most people just want a nine-to-five and a regular job,” mentioned Vacirtzoglou.
The bigger household owns the land and determined to promote the land for the event of a 12-storey apartment constructing.
The announcement of their closure has left clients and group members gutted. Jane Valente and her son drive previous a number of grocery shops from their house in North York to come back to Sun Valley.
“I usually just come down here just to shop in this store, and I’ve been coming here for 10 years, and I love it here, it’s a wonderful ambiance,” she mentioned.
The allure of the grocery retailer was its consistency, from the entrance finish the place younger and older cashiers have been working from their teenage days to the produce part, which is curated to a tee by Santino Carson.
“I love it here. I like to talk to people; that’s why I love this store because they let me do whatever we want,” mentioned Carson, who has labored for Sun Valley since 1983, and was there on opening day.
And Carson is a pleasant face who is thought by many who stroll by way of the glass doorways. Whether it’s a easy whats up and smile or a chat, Carson is able to oblige.
“The people know me, I know them — this is a community. This job is more than sustenance, it gives me excitement,” he mentioned.
Carson, who’s sporting a button-up shirt and tie underneath his Sun Valley outfit, famous that the house owners have at all times allowed him to do his job in his personal method.
“They let me dress, they let me interact and chat with customers, they care, and that’s rare,” he mentioned.
While Carson has spent most of his life working for the grocery store, Alyssa Biondo has been there for 5 years. But for the younger lady, the tradition has saved her round as she navigates going by way of post-secondary faculty.
“Everyone is friendly, we’re all like best friends and we’re all like family,” she mentioned.
In their practically 40 years of operation, the house owners say service has been key to their success.
“If you treat people the way you want to be treated, the staff, the customers, and it’s so important to us,” Bexis mentioned.
In the age of digital interactions and now article intelligence on the horizon, Vacirtzoglou famous he’s glad to have cultivated an enduring reminiscence of constructing folks really feel one thing of their group.
“The camaraderie between the employees, customers, people walk in, they know us by our first names…that is the magic of what we created here,” he mentioned.
Sun Valley is internet hosting a neighbourhood barbecue on July twenty ninth to mark its closure.
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