| Sep 06, 2019


Rosie’s Café and General Store grand opening

Rosie’s Café and General Store held its grand opening last Saturday (August 31), and the overwhelming response from the public, which included a line-up all the way to Hwy. 41 at one point, reflected the fact that the permanent and seasonal residents in the Denbigh area have already made up their minds about the new café.

They don’t just like the food, the service, the latte’s (and as of last week, the fuel), they like the commitment that Jenelle and Joseph Rosenblath have made to enhance the range of retail services in the village.

Ever since Stop 41 closed, several years ago now, Glaeser’s Countryt Store on Bridge Street, has been keeping the community supplied with groceries and other goods.

Rosie’s Café and General Store, which is located on Hwy. 41, also has groceries available, along with food to eat in or to go, and has brought gasoline  back to Denbigh. The closest gas has been in Griffith 17 km. north, or 30 kilometres to the south in Cloyne.

“We’ve been open since Canada Day weekend,” said Jenelle Rosenblath, “gas only came two weeks ago. We’ve had a lot of community support all summer, even without the gas.

Jennelle, who works at the Lakelands Family Health Team clinic in Denbigh, when she is not helping out at the café, said that she and her husband Joseph were interested in buying the property and starting up a store ever since Stop 41 closed but it took a long time for the property to be listed. It was listed last summer and they made an offer on it and took possession last September. It then took months to complete all the necessary environmental assessments because of the old gas tanks that were buried on the site, before they could open at all.

The fuel tanks that they are using are all above-ground so there will be no hidden leaks in the future. Over the next couple of weeks, diesel fuel will be added.

Joseph, who has been running his own property maintenance business, is now running the store. The two of them, who are both from the local area, have a lot of family history in retail within the local area. They have been using their contacts to stock the store with local and regional products, such as Madawaska Coffee, meat from Palmateer’s abattoir in Tweed, cheese from Empire Cheese and baked goods from Doohars, both of Campbellford.  They are renovating the top floor of the building to house a gift shop and perhaps some hunting and fishing supplies.

“This is our home town,” said Jenelle, “We’ve always watched this place, and we know how important it is to the local community because we are from here. All summer and at the grand opening we have been supported by everyone and it makes us even more committed to making this business work for us and the community.

“Our Grand Opening celebration was a huge success, as we had many more people stop in than anticipated! We are so blessed to have such a supportive community and great visitors that took the time to stop in. The support shown by members of council and the fire department was great to see as well.”

Rosie’s Café is open 7 days a week from 7am until 8pm. The hours may be shortened over the winter, but the Rosenblaths are committed to remaining open 7 days a week all year round.

And as the poster announcing the grand opening said, “Gas is back in Denbigh”

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