The Reids take the reins at Verona IGA

Mar 11, 2010

The new owners of the Verona IGA, Clint and Andrea Reid

Just a few weeks after their move to Verona, Clint and Andrea Reid, the new owners of the Verona IGA, have taken hold of the reins of a new business and a new life for themselves and their family.

The fact that it already feels like home after a few short weeks is proof to them that they have made a very good decision.

Born and raised in Peterborough the Reids are experienced grocery store operators. They owned and operated an IGA in Omemee for nine years and prior to that operated the Foodland store in Norwood, ON for a decade.

Clint admits to learning the business “the hard way from the bottom up” starting out at 14 and slowly working his way up to a full-time position at an Oshawa Food City. After that he worked in promotion for Food City in Toronto for a number of years until he decided that he wanted to get into the independent side of the business. That decision led Clint and his family first to Norwood, then to Omemee, and just three weeks ago to Verona.

While raising their two daughters Amanda and Mackenzie, Andrea Reid had also worked, first running her own daycare business and later working full-time at PepsiCo, Quaker Oats in Peterborough while also working part-time at the Omemee store.

With their two daughters grown and enrolled in college and university programs, the Reids, who have always wanted to live in the country, jumped at the chance when the recent opportunity to purchase the Verona IGA presented itself. Andrea recalled, “We immediately fell in love with the area when we came to see the store. The decision to move here involved myself and Clint but also our kids. When they came out here they also fell in love with it. I think we were all ready for a change.”

Taking on a former family business in a small community is also something the Reids are very familiar with and understand the intricacies of.

Clint said, “We really wanted to put all of the staff here at ease immediately and for them to know that we were counting on everybody to be a part of this. That was the same approach we took in Omemee, which was also a family-owned store and we had wonderful success there.”

According to Clint one important factor when stepping into a former family business like the Brooks’ is to build on what has already been established. Clint explained, “This business is very solid. The challenge will be taking something that is running well and trying to make it our own. Whenever you get into an ownership change the hardest thing is to realize that everyone tends to do things a little differently.”

That being said the Reids do have a couple of future plans for change in the works.

Clint explained, “We are definitely going to make investments into the business. We are currently planning a bit of a face lift with a focus on quality and freshness and we plan to put some new equipment into the store. We are hoping to have a grand opening in April, which I think the community will really enjoy.”

When I probed the Reids regarding a possible name change Clint replied, “I think it’s very important that we keep the community name “Verona” as the business name so right now it will be the Verona IGA.” The Reids are extremely pleased with the overwhelming reception they have received from the community, which has included numerous gifts and cards.

Clint said, “ I had really great relationships with all of the businesses and social groups in Omemee and that is something that I am also looking forward to here. I also believe that it’s part of our obligation as a local business to support local community events.”

The store staff have also been very accepting and Andrea said, “Since I have been working here for the last week I feel like I have known the people for years, which really says a lot.”

So from here on in it is business as usual at the Verona IGA. The only other change the Reids are considering is getting a dog. In Andrea’s words…“Everyone here seems to have one.”