A new store in Toronto is offering former Newfoundlanders a taste of home.
The “Newfoundland Store” in the city’s west end neighbourhood of Parkdale sells some of the local Newfoundland wares that are otherwise unavailable in most parts of the country, such as Newfoundland spices, Pineapple Crush and roasted chicken-flavoured chips.
The store also sells shirts, artwork and various soaps from the province.
Newfoundland Store owner Craig Pike, a former Newfoundland resident himself, told CTV News Channel he decided to open the store after expanding his next-door cookie business, Craig’s Cookies, and noticing he had about 100 square feet of unused space.
“I thought: ‘Why not open a Newfoundland Store in Parkdale?’” he said.
The store opened in November and Pike says sales have been 400 per cent higher than he anticipated.
“Everybody’s having a great time,” he said. “When we were painting the outside of the shop… every second person walking by in Parkdale either was from Newfoundland (or) had some kind of connection to the province.”
The store’s most popular item is a spice called “Newfoundland Savoury,” which is typically used in turkey stuffing. Pike says he’s already sold about 300 packages of the spice.
“To be able to share a bit of home in Toronto means a lot to me and I’ve gotten nothing but support from all the Newfoundlanders back home,” he said.
The concept of a Newfoundland-themed store is nothing new. In Ontario, there are similar stores in Brampton, Innisfil, and Cambridge. There are also Newfoundland-themed bars in Ottawa, Scarborough, Ont. and Dartmouth, N.S.
