'Opportunity to set up for years': Stouffville Main Street businesses receive boost

The My Main Street program gave out $10,000 to 10 downtown businesses

Yorkregion.com
May 9, 2023
Simon Martin

Getting a Main Street store up off the ground in Stouffville is a huge undertaking. Marc Neumann is just getting started on the west side of Main Street with the Foodicyn Alkaline Breakfast Bar. He opened the shop in September. “Fruits, vegetables, nuts, greens, seeds. That’s it,” he said of his various cocktails and tonics.

Neumann said he was turned onto a more healthy way of living more than a decade ago when he was 35 and he started getting health problems. As he learned about food and changed his diet, Neumann observed how his new regiment of cocktails and tonics healed his body. “IBS, chronic allergies, chronic headaches. Gone,” he said.

After writing a few books on the topic, Neumann finally made the jump to physical store front last year. “I wanted to have my own store front,” he said.

That undertaking was difficult but Neumann got a little help through the federal government’s My Main Street Program which doled out $10,000 to 10 businesses in Stouffville. For Neumann, the extra funds made all the difference in the world. “It’s like your head is below water and you come up for this awesome big phenomenal breath of air,” he said. “The grant gives me an opportunity to set up for a few years.”

Other Main Street businesses receiving funds from the program included Candlelight and Memories, Pimento Jerk, Redefined Finds, Fickle Pickle, Red Bulb Espresso Bar, AGI Kitchen, True Path Yoga, Nature’s Gifts and Organic Spa and Stouffville Florist.

Philip and Rose Hendricks are also new to the Main Street. The couple started the food truck Pimento Jerk in 2018 touring around to the festivals in the GTA and then COVID hit. “We were like ‘Oh my god, no more festivals, What are we going to do?,” Rose said. “But COVID actually was a huge blessing for us because as a food truck nobody had to come inside.” They had the food truck setup at the old Tommy Burgers location on Hwy. 7 in Markham. But with the food truck the couple needed a kitchen and wanted to set up a restaurant. They moved into the old Smokery location on Main Street in Stouffville last year.

“This is a big undertaking for us and we really want to make a good impression on Stouffville,” Rose said. “We want to be able to give the community something special. We want to give them that experience of the Caribbean.”

But getting a restaurant off the ground is not the easiest task so when the couple heard about the My Main Street they were excited. “It was a wonderful opportunity for us to kind of get that push to get things going,” she said. “It’s beautiful and fantastic here but there was a lot of stuff that we had to work on.”

Pimento Jerk had only been offering take-out until recently but they are slowly opening up capacity for dine-in is as they get the restaurant off the ground. They specialize in Caribbean foods like Jerk chicken and roti. The response from the community has been very positive so far. “We hear it all the time from people that come in and they tell us they’re so excited that there’s something different in Stouffville,” Rose said.  

The My Main Street, Local Business Accelerator program is delivered by the Economic Developers Council of Ontario with an overall Government of Canada investment of $23.25 million to support the recovery and strength of Main Streets and local businesses.

"I am thrilled to see 10 local businesses receiving support through the My Main Street program in Stouffville," Markham-Stouffville MP Helena Jack said. "Stouffville’s Main Street is a fantastic place that keeps getting better. This investment will help with the amazing changes that are already underway."

Stouffville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karen Wooton said the federal funds have been a game changer for several local business putting them in a much better position to succeed.