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re8 economist suntribune september 24 1986 twoweek shutdown ends unionville shop back in business by edo van belkom bill mann is back in business after a twoweek period that saw him locked out of his croissant corners shop on main st in un ionville mr mann 28 was kept from his tiny stall by his landlord who changed the locks on the door effectively closing him down for two weeks the tenant landlord disagree ment arose from mr manns attempt to expand his modest op eration his expansion which took the form of a rear patio and an addi tional product line also brought out a number of municipal inspec tors from several different agen cies there were five visits in a twoweek period prior to his closing the first attempt at expansion ca me in the form of a cafe patio in the rear of the building mr mann is renting the patio was open just three days before inspectors from the york region board of health ruled the operation did not con form to a food premises regula tion regulation 244 requires that washroom facilities be pro vided for customers along with food service although mr mann had made arrangements with calathum- pians restaurant across the street for joint use of the res taurants facilities he was still not able to conform to regula tions visits to the patio were also made by building bylaw inspec tors who received reports of a new eating facility that had opened up and investigated because no per mit had been issued complaints received jim brown deputy building director for the town of markham buildings and bylaws depart ment said his department re ceived complaints about the patio and were forced to investigate he said that each inspector is re quired to make followup inves tigations which accounts for the frequent inspections at the main st shop mr manns second attempt at expansion came when he ex panded his product line to include skateboards and accessories along with the existing croissant and coffee fare a skateboard shop attracts skateboarders which didnt fit in well with the other tenants in the building mr brown said that his depart ment also received a complaint regarding the skateboards skateboarders were going up and down the street and people said they couldnt walk along the street without getting bumped by them he said adding that mr mann was issued a warning with a stall that measures nine feet by three feet croissant cor ners does not carry too much weight with a landlord who has three other businesses as well as apartments in the same building not welcome other businesses on the street didnt appreciate a congregation of skateboarders on the street said mr mann who has been in business at the same location for three years my business isnt very big so i dont have a lot to say he added my weight exists at 150 pounds and thats it so when complaints from the other tenants reached the land lord the locks on the door were changed and mr mann was with out a business its hard to believe that people can be so aggresive and its ludic rous that one simple business can cause such problems said the entrepenuer who is also an ex ecutive member of the unionville historical board after two weeks of finding out what went wrong and settling the disagreement with his landlord mr mann was allowed to reopen without a full menu as he calls it of skateboards and crois- mr mann is still pleasant and calm after the whole ordeal and holds no grudges against muni cipal inspectors who he says did their job and took care of whatev er complaints they had about the place area changing but he does admit that the friendly smalltown atmosphere that his business is based upon is slowly dissappearing as unionvil le becomes more and more popular i have seen changes in the atmosphere here and i hope that the bigger we get we dont get more and more commercial said mr mann some people are interested in business and not the community mr mann said he has no prob lems going with the flow or deal ing with his recent setback im still here he said im still providing a service however he added that hes right back where he started and noted that he wont stay long un less hes able to expand his busi ness in one way or another in the near future home show shaping up bill mann owner and operator of unionvilles croissant corners is back in business after a twoweek shutdown the main st shop was closed down after mr mann attempted to expand his product line and add a rear patio to the premises- roberta di maio although still a month away the fourth annual markham home show is shaping up to be another big success organizer fred cox president of canadian telaviews ltd said things are in good shape and nearly ready to go residents can see whats new learn what to do and save at the oct 24 25 and 26 home show at the markham fair grounds were well underway and have put together a good list of high quality exhibitors he said were expecting another very successful show hundreds of exhibitors will offer their newest and best pro ducts for the home at special show prices its a unique oppor tunity to see the latest home pro ducts obtain friendly expert advice and complete your home shopping at super value prices all in one convenient spot the markham home show offers a vast variety of sophisti cated and quality products in a relaxed atmosphere like mar kham itself its the perfect blend of city selection in a country set ting in addition to products careful ly selected to represent virtually every aspect of the home visitors will also be able to enjoy free ongoing seminars and demon strations included are mark cul- len from weall and cullen in terior designers from the seneca college interior decorating faculty and professionals from st clair paint and paper visitors will also be able to shop for the latest appliances at john galloways appliance centre see the new 1987 general motors cars or complete some christmas gift shopping at the country store catering to preppie youngsters business venture young at heart by edo van belkom barry sambrook and elizabeth talenti are two young entrep reneurs whose business venture is young at heart mr sambrook 22 and ms talenti 21 are coowners of little wonders clothing store on main st in unionville which caters to preppie youngsters from newborn to teenagers the business was financed in part by a 5000 loan from the ontario youth venture program as well as with capital of their own the loan is interest free for a year but must then be paid back at a rate of five per cent per month after that the store set back and almost hidden behind the more estab lished businesses in the old vil lage has been open for about two months although the location is not exactly ideal mr sambrook is pleased to have it we were really lucky to get this place theres a waiting list for businesses to get on the street he said i was asking everyone on the street if they knew of anything and i found out they were building this place i gave the guy a call and the lease was signed may 1 mr sambrook was studying in ternational business at seneca college when he found that busi ness theory didnt quite interest him as much as business in prac tice i said to myself forget this i want to make some money he said business partners so he went into business with ms talenti his girlfriend the couple said theyve been going together for two years and a popu lar question these days is how long will they stay together not that theyre business partners as well hopefully forever answers ms talenti with a nervous laugh but from speaking with the two of them one gets the impression that theyre not about to fall apart at the seams the minute the going gets tough together they did all the work on the interior of the store sometimes working 15 hours a day to get it finished mr sambrook still works in the morning delivering bundles of toronto star newspapers with van and then goes back to the shop for the rest of the day we work 12 hours a day but you want to do it because its your own business he said i think our youth is an asset for us right now and hard work has paid off for the pair as they both admit that knew absolutely nothing about childrens clothes when they started quizzed merchants we asked all the merchants on the street what was needed there were on other clothing stores for children on the street mr sam brook said at present the store is operating with about 25 per cent of their stock their biggest problem at the moment is filling the store with clothes prices range from 3 for a pair of leotards to 125 for a jean jack et their hottest sellers are bright multicolored socks and popular oshkosh overalls that start at 45 the clothes are not one-of-a- kind designers clothes and arc available in other stores but they are unique for the area said mr sambrook adding that they hope to get imported italian clothes in the upcoming months we pick out what we like the kids seem to go for the style the older kids arc wearing ex plained ms talenti mr sambrook is optimistic that little wonders will make a mod est profit this year and hopes to pay off his government loan soon after but these arc only immediate goals hes already considering opening up other stores in similar tourist areas such as harbour- front and yorkville elizabeth talenti and barry sambrook are two young entrepreneurs who recently opened little wonders clothing store on main st in unionville the store caters to preppie youngsters from newborn to teenagers roberta di maio