Random Access

Where are we going to get the 10 lb. bags of silver skin onions for making sweet pickles now?
Have to admit that was my first selfish reaction when Tony Simeone (above) told me a few weeks ago that an institution in the west end of the city, the Credit Valley Fruit Market, on Dundas St. W. near Credit Woodlands, would be closing its doors.
The official end is going to come sometime later this week — Sunday at the latest — but it has been on the horizon for some time.
Every Friday afternoon on my way home from work, my car would automatically pull into the plaza and a selection of fresh fruits and veggies, most of which Tony had hand-picked at the Ontario Food Terminal earlier that morning, would be purchased for the weekend.
In the spring, there was a garden centre with the fresh herbs that Tony's father, Domenic, grew in the gardens on the family properties next door to the plaza. In the fall, there were big, fat pumpkins and, at Christmas, beautiful Nova Scotia balsam firs to be dragged home and decorated.
If you went in there often enough, you could meet every member of the Simeone family. That would include the patriarch and matriarch, Domenic and Signora, Tony and his siblings Bruno, Lucy and Marisa. The grandchildren were often on hand too.
Credit Valley was a ready source of part-time work for several generations of local high school students.
Domenic and his wife Signora, both 78 now, came to Canada from the province of Latina, Italy in 1959. Domenic brought some Oxheart tomato seeds with him on the trip, seeds that result in tomatoes that are heart-shaped and as sweet as your favourite Valentine. He still grows and sells them, along with his famous melt-in-your-mouth butter beans.
Domenic worked 16-hour days in construction, then went into the plastering business. "I never collected one cent of unemployment insurance," he says proudly. "I like to work hard."
Just over 25 years ago, the family leased a spot on the south side of Dundas St. W. Things went so well that they bought the land behind and built the Credit Valley Plaza, then became its anchor tenant in 1986.
Things were good for a long time, but in retailing, everything changes. People got busier and busier and the younger generations wasn't as interested in making their own tomato sauces and canning peaches.
People used to come to the Dominion store in Westdale Mall for food, then go across to Credit Valley for their produce. When the Credit Landing Loblaws opened on the old Cooksville brick yard, people could get everything they wanted there. It didn't help when Dundas St. was widened and it was a lot harder to get out of the plaza.
Pretty soon, everyone was selling everything, including the big chains who can engage in cut-throat pricing that a family business can ill afford. "It's tough when Home Depot starts selling Christmas trees," says Tony.
They changed with the times. Signora made special chile sauces and pickled anything that stopped moving long enough. They began selling lunches and prepared foods, homemade loaves and even their own energy bars.
"That would have given us a niche we thought we could hold onto and it worked... to some extent," says Tony.
But ultimately, they could not compete. The decision to close was really made last year when the plaza was sold and the Simeones became tenants again.
Now the family is negotiating for a new space near Clappison's Corners in Waterdown. "It's a new beginning and we're all very excited about it. But leaving — it's mixed emotions. We had some good times here and some rough times," says the 54-year-old Tony.
Signora doesn't even want to talk about it. Even posing for a photograph is hard.
Kirk Farrell, who does business with the store, watches ruefully as a farewell photo is being taken.
"There's no personalized businesses anymore," he says. "It's all bottom line — bottom line for everybody," says Farrell. "You find the same stores in every mall, the same stores in every plaza."
Tony is asked if there was any kind of business philosophy that Credit Valley followed, besides work round-the-clock for less-than-minimum wage.
"Well, not really," he replies. "You have got to have your heart in it. You have to roll out the red carpet and hope they keep supporting it."
They rolled out the red carpet every time, but not enough people stepped up to support it.