Farewell to Fairmont Confectionery: corner store and restaurant closes Sunday
Sam Souryavong and his sister Sandy are closing up shop Sunday at their Hintonburg convenience store and southeast Asian lunch counter.
The family has operated Fairmont Confectionery and the popular Sam's Café inside since July 2014.
Souryavong said the decision to close the business came, in part, because of the deteriorating health of his mother, who has Alzheimer's and lives in Toronto.
"We thought we [would] close it down and spend more time with family and with my mom and our siblings to support each other through this," Souryavong said.
Since they announced last week that the business was closing, Souryavong said it's been difficult to keep up with demand. The café ran out of stock this weekend.
"People just come in and start taking my frozen curries out and start stocking up their freezers. I've been working practically 16 hours a day with my sister. It's been fun and it's been hectic," he said, adding that he'll be filling orders made on Sunday over the next two weeks.
"We didn't know that we would get such a response from the neighbours and from the customers."
The building that houses the shop has been sold. Souryavong said another business will move in.
"They're not going to tear down to build condos. I don't have liberty to say what they'll do; from what I know, I can't wait," he said. "The neighbours will love them."
He said he's still holding onto the dream of opening a bigger café with a more complete menu someday.
"The kind of response that I get from neighbours, customers — some even new ones — that encourages me a lot, that if I were to come back and open a café, that I know I will ... get support from the neighbourhood."
