KENILWORTH – David Yeh wasn’t initially planning to open a storefront when he brought his business operation to Kenilworth, but he’s happy to give the people what they want.
“This was the centre of the town,” Yeh said of the store that sits at the hamlet’s main intersection at Highway 6 and Sideroad 7.
There have been different businesses there over the years with different names, but for the past couple of months it has been operating as Country Pantry, and Yeh said the support from local residents has been “amazing.”
Yeh lives in Bradford but came to Kenilworth looking for a place to manufacture his garlic chili oil sauce, a product called SoSecret, which he launched a little over a year ago.
“The difference between this sauce and the rest on the market is the flavour,” he said. “Nobody makes it the way we make it.”
Yeh noted that when he first started making the product, he was putting out about one batch a month, but by mid-year production had increased to two batches per week.
After getting the product into big grocery retailers like Sobeys, he was having trouble keeping up with demand, and the facility where he was manufacturing the product was even further from home than Kenilworth.
“Finally, we find this place, so we can do the sauce here,” he said.
The building has a commercial kitchen off to one side, where he can cook his SoSecret sauce, but the main space was empty.
“Neighbours started asking, ‘what are you going to do with this space?’” said Yeh. “I asked the question: ‘what do you want us to do?’”
He found there was support for a convenience store of sorts – a place where local people could come to pick up an item or two they needed when they didn’t need to do a full grocery shop and didn’t want to make the longer trek into Arthur or Mount Forest.
He also learned that people would appreciate a restaurant where they could come for a hot meal.
“Before we knew it, we got a lot more than we planned,” Yeh said.
He registered the business as a convenience store, and his shelves include some pantry staples like sugar, tea and coffee.
He also has essentials like toilet paper, and recently started carrying the county’s yellow garbage bags.
Because Country Pantry is classified as a convenience store, it can also carry a selection of beer and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages.
Yeh said he has stocked products based on what local people have requested. For example, one customer asked for cream cheese, so he added that to his offerings.
“I listen to what they need and I will provide that,” he said.
Otherwise, he has made a point of stocking Canadian and Ontario-made products – things like Covered Bridge potato chips from New Brunswick, and Muskoka Brand sauces and jams.
And of course, Yeh is selling his own products. Not just his SoSecret sauce, but also the Bitty Big Q, a collapsible grill perfect for camping for which he holds a U.S. patent.
“I want to support local products,” Yeh said. “I think that’s very important, maybe because I’m part of it.”
Just beyond the store shelves, there is also a small seating area where people can come in an get a hot meal.
Country Pantry has a small menu that includes things like chicken wings – made with traditional sauces as well as Yeh’s SoSecret sauce – spring rolls, poutine, soups and more.
Currently, the store is open four days a week – Wednesday to Saturday, from 10am to 6pm – but Yeh said he will expand the days of operation if there is demand.
“We are not really busy yet, but [there’s] a lot of support,” he said, noting feedback from neighbours has been positive.
“People say, ‘I just want you to be here,’” he said. “That kind of support makes you feel really touched.”
