A silver lining has appeared in the dark clouds surrounding the future of Katherine Little’s “The Little Stand” roadside jam business.
Pepper’s Foods tweeted Monday morning that Little’s jams and salsas will be available for purchase at its Cadboro Bay Road location starting Thursday.
Little says the offer came as a surprise but the support from the community gives her hope for the future of her business.
“I didn’t start out with the intention to be in retail,” Little said. “But the support is great until we get the answers we are looking for from council. In their email, [Peppers Foods] said they would be thrilled to carry my jams and I was definitely surprised.”
After the story broke online about Saanich council shutting down The Little Stand, the Victoria grocer reached out to Little and offered to stock her products for sale.
Scott Zaichkowsky of Pepper’s Foods says the choice was simple.
“I thought this would be a great opportunity for Pepper’s to reach out to her and offer our help,” said Zaichkowsky.
“Because of the position we are in, being an independent, this fits our store theme of concentrating on selling local products. It’s a unique opportunity to partner with a local vendor where we could both help each other out.”
Little responded to their offer with enthusiasm and noted that she grew up near the shop’s Cadboro Bay location. Little wrote she found it “fitting” that her “childhood grocery store” should offer to help.
And the reaction from regulars was no surprise to Zaichowsky.
“The response & support has been nothing but amazing. The community loves happy endings to unfortunate circumstances such as which Katherine has been faced with.”
John’s Place has also reached out to Little after hearing the news. The popular Victoria restaurant will have her jams and salsas available for purchase at the Pandora street location this summer.
Saanich council will meet again on July 8 and discuss granting Katherine Little a temporary operating permit for the stand.
With everything the little stand on Queensbury Avenue has been through, Little is hoping the community response will sway councillors in her favor.
“It’s been good and bad,” Little said “This is a silver lining but we are still hopeful for sure.”
