‘Newfie’ store draws big turnout for grand opening

It may be long way away from the “Rock” but the Newfie Connection and Craft Shop in Devlin may be a hit with mainlanders across the district.
Owner Kim Mose figured about 200 people dropped by her store over its three-day grand opening last Thursday to Saturday, and they literally snapped up the fresh seafood flown in from the east coast.
“About 90 percent of it sold on Saturday,” Mose said. “And I sold out by lunch time [that day].”
Tapes of east coast music, brought in from another Newfie store owned by Mose’s cousin in Brampton, Ont., was another big item.
“My rack was full,” she said, but noting she was down to only 10 tapes after the grand opening. “The lady from Kenora picked up five or six of the tapes.
“She said you can’t find it [in Kenora],” Mose added.
Newfoundland syrup, Purity “jam jams,” and Tunnock’s “Snowballs” were other items that disappeared quickly from the shelves, and won’t be back until another shipment comes in later this week.
Mose said she’s even had a few people request specialty items like seaweed to be shipped to her store, something which she–a born islander–hasn’t even tried herself.
“We always moved it when chasing crabs,” she said. “But if you can eat caviar, you can eat seaweed.”
Much of the traffic through her shop, located in the old church off La Vallee Road south, were tourists, Mose said, but many were locals, too. And she noted they seemed quite pleased with her renovation efforts.
“They said it should have been done a long tim ago,” she added.
Mose is planning to organize the store days into themes, such as having Seniors’ Day on Wednesday and a baked goods day on Saturday.
Saturday also will double as Seafood Day, she remarked, noting she also plans to take a good chunk of it to the Clover Valley Farmers’ Market in Fort Frances each week.
For now, Mose would like to order on a per need basis, with people placing orders at the store by Tuesday for pick-up Friday. But she warned those wanting seafood for Canada Day must have their orders in by Sunday.
“Everybody wants lobster for July 1,” she explained.
Mose hopes there’s more appeal to her store than seafood but, so far, she seemed pleased with the local attraction to Newfoundland products.
But she isn’t sure if the Newfie Connection will stay open all winter, noting there isn’t much insulation in the old church.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she said.