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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-07-14, Page 24TAKE OUR CAKE DrEcsoyENr ICE Ciapat DramaS m4s0 kms • Page 24 roost irA ads Wednesday fuly 14 , 1999 PIZZA HOT LINE 235-4949 Exeter Times -Advocate New businesses bolster Hensall economy By Kate Monk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF HENSALL - L©Cation, location, location. Two blocks north of main street on At first glance, Hensall may not Hwy. 4, the century home and exten- seem like an ideal location to start a sive gardens create a relaxed setting.. new business but owners of a new Unlike the Hensall Guest House, the, bed and breakfast, guest home and Schaufflers also live in the homeand restaurant are finding they're in the prepare the breakfast. perfect spot. Don (Abe) Averill has been pleas - Fifteen minutes from Lake Huron, antly surprised with how quickly 40 minutes from business has grown since London, close to retail"Get the highest Abe's Kitchen and Coffee shopping and in the Pub opened a month ago. heart of Canada's best quality food you can The former Allen's farmland, the village of get, give them Restaurant at the corner 1,400 is in a good poli- (customers) a good of Hwy. 4 & 84 has been tion to service touristscompletely redecorated. and businesses. portion and dont Averill's restaurant For Pieter and Maria charge them an arm experience includes seven Schroeders a love of and a leg." years at the White history and a need for DON AVERIL.L, Squirrel restaurant in extra accommodation AgE�S KITCHEN AND Exeter. His recipe for for visiting relatives ledCOFFEE PUB restaurant success is cus- to the purchase .of a tomer-based. neighbour's century "Get the highest quality home on the southeast corner of food you can get, given them (cus- Hwy. 4 and 84. The purchase re -unit- tomers) a good portion and don't ed a house and farm that were his- charge them an arm and a leg," he torically one parcel. . . said. . They renovated the Victorian house The menu includes regular restau- but found saving the house for rela- rant fare from soup and burgers to tives for a few weeks a year didn't full -course dinners. Averill said he's justify the renovation costs. . concentrating o•n. specials which Consequently, they worked .through includes fish and chips on Friday the bureaucracy to rezone the prop- nights and a chicken'1dinner erty •for a guest house and officially Saturdays. Specials 'are also -offered opened on Canada Day. Unlike a bed :throughout the week. and breakfast the owners of. a guest Averill realizes long hours are nec- house, do nt have to live on the essary for success. property. "It's pretty much your life," he said "We started with the idea to use it of the 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday to as a guest house for families when Friday and 8 a.m. 10 p.m. weekend they were travelling thought the hours. southwest part of Ontario," Pieter John Brock owns the building explained. "We felt there was a •which includes an attached house demand because people were asking Brock and his wife Marlene .are turn - us." ing into an antique shop. The shop Maria is taking the lead role in the - : will be open on the weekends and Hensall Guest House operation and is includes a variety of antiques he has flexible with rental arrangements. 1urchased at sales. Visitors can rent one bedroom and John said the low price and high - have access to the kitchen, wash- way location were the keys to buying room and laundry facilities or thethe business and doubted he would have purchased :the business if it was located in the downtown core away from busy .Hwy. 4. Hens'all's main street his some well-established, family owned busi- nesses which serve the village and surrounding townships. The Village Vines florist shop which opened last year has also given the main street a boost, according to Hensall Economic Development Committee (HEDC) chairman John Baker. Other stores have not done as well and have come and gone. • "Anything that has happened is market driven," Hensall clerk -trea- surer Luanne Phair said. The village, Canada's largest inland grain terminal, has an economy firm- ly based in agriculture and manufac- turing. But until it receives provincial grants for water supply and sewage lagoon upgrades, any significant resi- dential and industrial development is on hold, Phair said. . The service Industry, such as bed and breakfast establishments and fill- ing empty stores on main, street are within the Hensall's infrastructure capabilities. "We have to fill that' special unique little specialty shop niche," Phair said. With a $12,600 budget, the HEDC Sybille said she likes people, an essential quality for B&B operators who welcome guests .;into their homes. can rent the entire house. The house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a laundry room, kitchen, library/office, meeting/dining room and sunroom. Maria emphasizes the most important aspects are to offer clean rooms and to make the guests feel,as comfortable as• possible. The renovations left as much of the oak flooring and wainscotting as pos- sible. "The overseas tourists can see- how well built these farmhouses are," Pieter said. "It's an important part of history and also a tourist attraction." So far, European and American tourists, business people and visitors who are in the area for weddings are renting the home. • Sybille and Ron's Garden Bed & Breakfast is also a new option for tourists and business people. Sybille and Ron Schauffler opened tl)elr B&B in . the last week of June andhave had a °good number of bookings for the three guest rooms. The Schaufflers had ample room for their visiting adult children until Sybille opened a home-based accounting business which eliminat- ed the upstairs bedrooms. Opening a B&B enabled the Schaufflers to justify renovating the basement to get the upstairs rooms back into bedrooms. doesn't actively recruit new business- es to the area, it lets new businesses know it's there to help. It . is also par- ticipating in the Huron County manu- facturing study. The committee of volunteers appointed by council focuses on •tourism and community, business and residential development. The vil- lage reeve and a councillor are also on the committee. The HEDC has worked on getting the village spruced up for the International Plowing Match near Dashwood in September, and is host- ing the Plowman's Banquet in con- junction with the IPM on Sept. 20. At a time when small town economies are threatened by big box stores in nearby cities, Hensall's entrepreneurs are surviving in the niche they hope will take them into the 21st century. Av tiry .•ti ti� r •. The Hensall Guest House (above) and Sybille and Ron's Garden Bed and Breakfast are new accommodations for tourists and business_ people in the village. Restauranteur Don Averill (left) and building owner John Brock at Abe's Kitchen and Coffee Pub are finding business has grown quickly at the corner of Hwy. 4 and 84 in Hensall.