A cup of coffee is maintaining a small enterprise in Toronto alive – however it may be a death sentence.
With a small espresso brewing behind the counter, Yana Miriev says that her determination to serve coffee in her native grocery store has each saved her enterprise and put her in a battle with metropolis corridor.
“We know that the store is not sustainable without the coffee service. And we’ll have to shut it down without it,” she says.
Miriev is the proprietor of Finch Store, positioned on a residential road close to Ossington Avenue and Harbord Street. She bought the enterprise two years in the past and shortly after they bumped into hassle. Then, she checked out her licence and noticed a chance.
“The licence says grocery store with refreshments. And earlier than we put in tools for the coffee store, I despatched a little inquiry to the municipality to ask if we’re allowed to serve coffee and baked items within the store, and the reply was, ‘Yes,'” she said.
After getting the go ahead from the licencing department, coffee sales brought in more business. It also generated an anonymous complaint to bylaw officers. Because the store is on a residential street it is only zoned as a retail variety store.
In a statement the city of Toronto said in part, “Any change of use from a Retail Grocery/Variety Store is not permitted; and that includes store staff preparing food or drinks (or coffees) for sale to patrons.”
A bylaw officer visited the store and soon afterwards the licencing department sent a letter asking Miriev to consent to the store’s licence being downgraded.
She says, “I can not do that because it’s a death sentence for me, for the business.”
Since then, members of the community have rallied around the store. Over 1,000 people have signed an in-store petition and another 1,700 signed one online.
According to town of Toronto, modifications might be coming to the bylaw that may enable locations like this to promote issues like coffee. But the query is, will it occur in time?
Within their assertion town of Toronto stated workers are engaged on an modification to the bylaw and “the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment as written would permit a Retail store, with the option to include an ancillary eating establishment or take-out eating establishment, provided that the preparation and sale of food and beverages is limited to hot beverages and low-risk or pre-packaged, ready-to-eat food items.”
Those suggestions could not come till the tip of the 12 months and would then have to go by way of council. Miriev is allowed to proceed serving coffee whereas they await a listening to with the Toronto Licencing Tribunal.
“The timing is very sensitive,” she says. “It’s a very important point when it’s going to happen and if we’re going to have the tribunal before or after, the law will be changed.”
So for now, they proceed not understanding who will act first. That might be the distinction between thriving and going out of enterprise.
