Change and Continuity at Verona Foodland

Jeff Green | Mar 27, 2024

When Clint and Andrea Reid purchased the Verona Foodland franchise about 15 years ago, they were already veterans of the grocery business and already owned franchises elsewhere, but they were strangers to Verona.

“I knew that we had to prove ourselves. No one knew us. We were strangers and we had to earn trust from the community, and from the staff as well. We knew that at the time. But we inherited a great, dedicated staff from Graham and Bev Brookes, and it's been a great ride. It's a great community to live and work in, and we're not going anywhere,” said Clint Reid, when interviewed at the store last week.

One member of the staff that the Reids inherited was Josh Dumaresq.

“I started here over 15 years ago, when I was in High School, as a part-time job, for Bev and Graham,” Josh said.

He was already a fixture in the store when the Reids took over, and after leaving for St. Lawrence College to complete a course in wind-turbine maintenance, he decided to come back to the store instead of pursuing that career.

“There would have been a lot of travel involved, and I'm a bit of a homebody,” he said.

There was also a lot of opportunity in the store, and Josh jumped onto the management side of the operation, at a pretty early age. He also happens to have married Clint and Andrea’s daughter Mackenzie, and the couple have a son and a daughter,

So, the changeover in ownership has been in the works for some time.

“I am ready to retire,” Clint said, and it worked out that Josh was ready for the challenge of ownership. He's been the store manager, the guy who ran things when I was away, for some time, and the timing worked out pretty well. And I'm not leaving right away. I'll still be here doing the things that I love doing, as a consultant, for a time.

“But now I will have to deal with all the headaches and put out all the fires,” Josh said.

The changeover at the store took place last week, and the only really noticeable part of it for the public, was that the LCBO outlet that is a connected but separate business, that Josh has also taken over, was closed for a full inventory on Sunday and Monday, the 17th and 18th of March.

“It wasn't ideal to have that happen on St. Patrick's Day weekend, but that's the way it worked out,” said Josh.

Aside from that, the store looks the same, the long standing store staff are still in place, hustling to keep the shelves stocked and the lineup at the cash, short.

“You won't see any changes right away,” said Clint, “but Josh has plans to take the store to the next level, and you will see investments and improvements over time.”

Both Josh and Clint have worked to make a seamless transition from the public end. Even though the few weeks before the transition were full of details coming from transitioning two businesses into new ownership, the process was much smoother because it was a transition from within, rather than an outside sale.

For the local community, it also means continuity.

“This store does well. It has done well. We know what we are in the marketplace, how important a role we play for all the people we serve. We've never taken it for granted or lightly.

We are proud to do what we do for the community and for the summer residents. None of that is changing,” said Clint.

What has changed, and this was a hint of what was in the works, is the name of the store, which changed earlier this year from Reid's Foodland to Verona Foodland.