Sun Valley Fine Foods closes after 29 years on the Danforth
TheStar.com
Published on Tuesday July 31, 2012
Another independent grocery store has forever shut its doors.
Sun Valley Fine Foods ended its 29-year stint on Danforth Ave. Sunday, much to the sadness of the stream of customers who discovered an empty shop Tuesday.
But business was tough, so store and building owner Gerry Aravantinos decided to close the grocery and lease the prime corner space instead, said Jim Bexis, manger of Sun Valley’s Scarborough location at Danforth and Birchmont Rds.
“We had a good run,” Bexis said. “It’s tough to compete in this city when you don’t have parking.”
He wouldn’t reveal Sun Valley’s replacement, but the community rumour mill pegs the future tenant as a pharmacy chain.
The neighbourhood will miss the store’s friendly atmosphere and the one-on-one connections between staff and customers, store manager Michael Apostolou said on a break from packing shelves.
“When you’re an independent, there’s a soul in the store,” he said, remembering the many friendships he made during his 25 years there.
Apostolou sold specialty foods such as aioli and Greek olive oil, fresh produce and prepared meals at the store since he was 14 years old. He’s going to miss it.
The store could have survived, but the opportunity to lease it proved too tempting, he said.
“When you own a building, you can get money for not doing anything,” Apostolou said.
He encouraged customers to shop at the Scarborough location, about 8 kilometres away, where some employees will move.
For remaining customers, he has a message: “Support your independents or you’re going to see a lot more of this happening.”
That’s just what area resident Eleni Kapitanoff tried to do Tuesday when she set out specifically to buy Sun Valley’s chicken breasts, but the locked doors foiled her plans.
The store’s meat was “wonderful,” the produce “always fresh, the best quality,” and the staff, well, they were “wonderful” too. Kapitanoff shopped there for 15 years.
But when asked if she’d make the trek to the Scarborough location, she said “forget it.” Kapitanoff doesn’t have a car, so she’ll have to save her trips to Sun Valley for weekend shopping excursions with her husband.
“We’re really going to miss it.”
Sun Valley’s closing adds to the list of independents that called it quits in 2012. In March, 23-year-old Reither’s Fine Food International on Church St. closed and July marked the final days of 43-year-old Marky’s Deli on Wilson Ave.
