Behind the counter
Fouad Haddad reflects on 35 years of business in downtown Charlottetown
A long-time Charlottetown businessman who spent 35 years behind the counter says it’s the customers he misses the most.
Fouad Haddad, 59, sold the Downtown Deli on Grafton Street at the end of May.
The deli was the second business he ran in the same building. He started off renting videos and fixing computers with Variety Video in the mid-1980s before making the transition into the restaurant business with the deli 11 years ago. He sold it to a Vietnamese couple.
“You know what I miss the most? The people. We connected. Not only with the deli but the video store. Customers became friends,’’ Haddad said, reflecting back.
“We’d see them on a daily basis, like Don Josey from Academy of Learning, a great friend. Anytime he would come in I would sit with him, no matter what. And people like Ray (Martin) from Ray’s Barber Shop. Just examples of people you connect with on a personal level over the years. I miss that because I was behind the counter for 35 years.’’
Haddad loves to talk about the way downtown Charlottetown used to look. Everyone knew who owned specific businesses downtown.
While on a walk down Kent Street with The Guardian, he
points to The Factory Downtown, next to Hunter’s, and spontaneously says: “That used to be Tradewinds. I actually have the Tradewinds sign that (owner) Joe Lisi gave me.’’
He has such a passion for downtown Charlottetown that he even tried to purchase the old Prince Edward Cinemas, across the street from the Downtown Deli, when Empire Theatres closed it in 1990 in favour of the current cinema operation at the Charlottetown Mall.
Haddad said he decided to sell the deli simply because it was time to move on. He was starting to experience high blood pressure from stress.
“I was at a stage in my life where I felt I could do other things with family; enjoy life. It was a stage in my life where I wanted to move on. I do have apartments that I tend to and that keeps me busy. Like anything in life, there is a right place and a right time for everything and I’ve always believed that.’’
Haddad spent 22 years in the video rental business with Variety Video, deciding to fold his tent before That’s Entertainment, Jumbo Video and Blockbuster all vanished from Charlottetown. He said he could feel the end coming.
“Technology ... everyone was switching from dial-up to high speed internet and downloading movies. I knew it was coming to an end ... it was the end of an era.’’
But it wasn’t the end for this innovative businessman.
Haddad knew his wife, Insaf, was a great cook, especially with Lebanese food. So, he hired chef Tiffany White to handle Canadian food and opened the deli. He made trips to Montreal to
secure the best smoked meat.
Looking back on it all now, Haddad knows he has come a long way from making bicycle deliveries for his father who ran Haddad’s Clover Farm.
“I still have the single-speed bike with the basket. I was eight or nine years old and I could hardly reach the pedals.’’
Haddad doesn’t know what the future holds. He plans on taking his family to Greece and the Middle East for a vacation in October and take it from there.