A new Guelph grocery store is serving up specialty items from the Middle East.
Born in Syria, Gandal Hashim is eager to bring some of the flavours from home to his new store, Perla Fresh Food Market, a grocery that offers food staples and traditional specialties to ethnic communities locally.
"My mom is from Syria and my father is from Turkey. We offer a selection of Middle Eastern foods. Our store has a little bit of everything. A lot of the things we have are from the Middle East, with suppliers from Turkey and Syria," Hashim said.
"And our produce is always fresh."
On Oct. 13, Hashim welcomed the community to Perla Fresh Food Market at 46 Cork St. to celebrate the grand opening, downtown.
"I am really enjoying Guelph. It's quiet and everyone is very nice," Hashim said.
"Hopefully we'll see more and more customers. Right now, we just want them to know we are here. People have been very friendly especially here, in this area."
Hashim hopes his store will help to meet any demand for Middle Eastern products in Guelph.
"When people come here, if there is something in particular that they would like from home, we will bring it for them," Hashim said.
Perla Fresh Food Market aims to bring a taste of home to the community with authentic middle eastern favourites offering fresh produce, jarred and canned goods, baked goods, sweet treats, health and beauty products, spices, snacks and frozen food.
"Soon, we are going to open a meat section with a butcher, where we will have all kinds of meats to choose from including chicken, beef and lamb. That's coming soon, in about two months, as we prepare the space," Hashim said.
Hashim moved to Iraq from Syria when he was two years old, then to Turkey and on to Germany before settling in Canada when he was 10 years old.
The 31-year-old is a proud father of a two-year-old girl. As for owning his own shop, this is a first for Hashim.
"I'm from Kitchener where there are too many stores. So, I decided to open in Guelph, where there's less competition. My hope is to open up more locations, maybe even back in Kitchener- Waterloo. But I am excited to be in Guelph first, and so far, so good. I really like it here," Hashim said.
"I am happy to do this. I thought I would try it. Instead of working for other people, I decided to try my own business. It will take time to get things going. But soon, I hope, word will get around that we are here."
Helping others has always been a passion for Hashim and something he hopes to continue within his new Guelph community.
"I wanted to do this to help people. I used to volunteer a lot. Here at our store, before produce expires, we give it to the church up the road. I like to help," he said.
Perla Fresh Food Market is open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily.
"We do have a weekly special flyer that includes all of our sales," Hashim said.
"We would really like people to come in, see what we have, see the deals, and be able to buy what they like."
As he continues to import a variety of ethnic items and grow his stock, Hashim looks forward to discovering what products people in Guelph are really after.
Although the store has only been open a few weeks, Hashim says the response from the community has been great.
"I'm happy to be here," he said.
"I really hope that people will come visit and get to know us."
