BACK IN BUSINESS
Reopening Me and the Mrs. is a family venture
Popular restaurant and store reopens.
The effort to reopen longstanding community institution the Me and the Mrs. has been very much a family endeavour.
Growing up next door, John Michael Currie says he viewed the original owners of the Me and the Mrs. restaurant and convenience store as grandparent figures, although they weren’t related.
“I’d come down all the time and terrorize them,” he laughs.
The business, located at 6143 East Bay Highway, about 30 kilometres from Sydney, operated for more than three decades but had been closed for three years before Currie bought it last year, with the help of his father, Mike Currie.
After taking a welding inspecting course at age 19, Currie like so many before him headed out west to work. Meanwhile, the owners of the Me and the Mrs. died and the next generation took it on for a time, but ultimately placed it for sale.
“It was on the market for three years and my Dad asked me if I wanted to move home,” Currie said, noting he had some experience working on a food truck while he was in high school.
“My Dad asked me if I wanted to buy and he said he would help me out and here I am.
“I never thought I’d be a business owner myself.”
The Curries bought the building last August and set about doing some necessary repairs and maintenance. The pipes had frozen, resulting in multiple floods. Food service regulations have changed over the years which required other updates. It also required plumbing and electrical work, the latter he was able to tackle after completing an electrical course.
“I became handy,” Currie said.
It has allowed the 27-year-old and his wife Alicia to be able to raise their three young children — Amelia, Nathan and Sadie — in his home community.
The booths have all been repainted, there’s been some reorganization, but it retains the charm of the original community institution.
The new incarnation of Me and the Mrs. opened its doors April 6 and it has been well-received by the community, Currie says, with many customers leaving positive comments on its Facebook page.
“Word-of-mouth is just flying around,” he says. “Between here and St. Peter’s and East Bay, the closest place to eat would be Howie Centre.”
With a campground and recreational vehicle park nearby and located immediately beside the busy Trunk 4 highway, the restaurant and store is in a high traffic area.
Currie credits the support he and his wife have gotten from their families in getting the business off the ground. In addition to his father, Mike, helping with the purchase, his mother-in-law Rose Poirier has been lending a hand along with his mother Anne Marie.
He adds his grandmother Suzanne Currie has also offered her support.
Currie notes it can be difficult to find consistent work in Cape Breton and he hopes he will be able to forge a livelihood while also providing opportunities for his loved ones.
The plan, at least initially, is for the business to remain open year-round. Currie said he expects to take on some electrical work over the winter months while family members tend to the business day-today. I just want it to be like it used to be when the old couple ran it ... just a friendly atmosphere for someone to come in and eat.