EL Puntalito needs you – and I think that we need them.

(Dec 1, 2005)

The volume of business at the store needs to grow to survive. In recent months it has been declining.

Buying from El Puntalito, from Rene and Cruz Ramos, you are not just getting milk and bread, light bulbs and candy bars, you are supporting a better lifestyle in our neighbourhood. A simpler safer, more neighbourly community.

On the corner of Troy and Cameron we have something that most neighbourhoods don’t have and we are a better place for it. We have a real mom and pop family run variety store. Where the man and woman behind the counter will recognize you and provide a warm and sincere welcome.

A local variety store is at its most basic a place to get those things we need and sometimes some things that we just want. But being a part of our neighbourhood it is much more than that.

It is a place that we can send our kids and know that they can get their safely and that there is someone looking out for them at the other end of the trip. They get to experience a little independence without having to cross regional roads or go far from home.

The store is a chance for us to leave the car in the driveway and start the move toward the reduction of pollution and green house gasses. Think of it as a part of your response to the One ton Challenge. The walk is good for us.

Currently the little store does not offer the range of products of a super variety chain store but that is because they are just building their business. They only survive to serve us. The more we use the store, the more we make it a part of our neighbourhood and our lives the more they will have to offer.

More turn over means more products, more selection.

Rene and Cruz have added DVDs and amazing home made fresh pizza to the list of items in the store for you. They have brought in items specifically for individual families that have asked for them.

Every person I talk to says how nice it is to have the variety store in the neighbourhood; we need to make a point of using the store regularly to help two wonderful, hardworking neighbours who need our support. The irony is that the more we do that the better the store inventory becomes and the more we benefit.

David Bradshaw