After more than two decades working as a supplier for grocery manufacturer, Adam Kennedy has decided to flip the script on his career and will embark on a fresh adventure as the owner of a new family-owned and -operated grocery store in downtown Barrie.
“I left the industry a couple of months ago, so I have had a bit of time to think about what I wanted to do next,” he told BarrieToday.
Kennedy said he has been investigating the idea of opening a grocery store in the city’s downtown since before Christmas, adding although the last few months have been a bit of a roller-coaster, he has officially signed a lease for the approximately 3,400-square-foot space located at 90 Collier St., across from the McLaren Art Gallery and Barrie City Hall on Mulcaster Street.
“Finally all the stars aligned and I got to sign a lease and I am moving on to this next career,” he added.
It’s been more than a decade since downtown has had a grocery store.
Kennedy said seeing the community his wife has created at her downtown business has inspired him to take on the leap with the new venture.
“I just think downtown is the heart of your city. We have been back here for 10 years … and all the work that has been done to make Heritage Park beautiful, Meridian Square and down at the beach … it’s really such a great place down there,” he said.
“To have that gap for this community that I have learned to love over the last three years … knowing they had this void there plus my knowledge of the industry — and knowing why the big guys haven’t been there in the last number of years — I knew the big guys would not come into that space. It was never going to happen," Kennedy added.
He said he was confident that combining his passion and knowledge, in addition to his desire to bring something different to the city, had the potential to create something special.
“I wanted to be part of the solution,” said Kennedy.
He is still waiting for some final architectural drawings before construction can officially get underway, but the keys to the space will be handed over in the next few days. The target, Kennedy added, is to be open by Aug. 1, however that date has yet to be determined.
The vision for Kennedy’s Lakeside Grocery is to go back to the days when shoppers went to their local grocer multiple times a week, and there was a real sense of belonging and community.
“They knew you by name and they knew who your kids were. We want to be very service-oriented and be there for the people," he said. "We want to see the same faces in there all the time.
“We want to go back to the day where it’s not all about the corporations. It’s about service and helping out the community … but more importantly it’s going to be about locally sourced as much as possible," Kennedy added.
The sky's the limit on potential community partnerships, he said.
“We lived in Toronto for a while and they had a lot of those small fruit stands. That’s kind of the model, but we want to have a full shop. You’re not going to have eight types of apples. You’re not going to get 24 rolls of toilet paper … we are going to be limited with our space. We are going to try to service the needs of the community as much as we can (but) our suggestion box is going to be large.
“You can be nimble when you’re small. I have all of the contacts. I can find something for people, so if it makes sense for the community and it makes sense for the space we have available, then I will find it and bring it in.”
Since first sharing the news online over the weekend, the response has been “unprecedented,” Kennedy said.
“Seventy-two hours and there’s almost 1,000 followers on the Instagram account already. The engagement is great and the response has been amazing," he said. "There hasn’t been a grocery store down here in more than 10 years.
"Everyone is excited for it and we are excited for it as well. The demand is there in a big way.”
