It’s not your typical grocery store. Nor is it your average shoe store.
Hashem’s Variety is a long-running Charlottetown business offering the unusual blend of sneakers and food for sale in the same shop.
The unique product mix is working well for businessman Salam Hashem, who opened his store shortly after arriving in P.E.I. from Lebanon 50 years ago.
The store is located at 251 Fitzroy St. Customers walking into the store early Monday afternoon first come across two large
bags of carrots stacked just inside the door.
Fresh oranges, tomatoes, bananas, apples, onions and cabbage are among a host of vegetables and fruit that next catch the shopper’s eye.
Then come the shoes — piles of them.
First, the colourful Asics sneakers — the only brand of shoe sold at Hashem’s Variety — overflow several large boxes.
After taking a sharp right, rows and rows of the boxed sneakers are neatly stacked on shelves with the top couple rows towering well above Hashem’s head.
Jogging and fitness clothing hang intermittently among the sneakers while one lone aisle is stacked with groceries: those frequently-purchased items like soup, ketchup, peanut butter, chips, coffee and even a modest selection of food for cats and dogs.
Hashem does not waste an inch of space. Goods are displayed for sale in every nook and cranny of the old building. The soft-spoken 73-year-old Hashem, though, most relishes talking about the shoes.
“We sell quality stuff, not old stuff,’’ he says without a hint of hyperbole. “They are top shoes in the market today.’’
Hashem concedes running a store for 50 years is a long time and a great deal of effort.
“That is a gift from God to have the health to do this,’’ he says. “You have to appreciate this.’’
Hashem, who runs the store alone seven days a week, has kept in shape running ever since he was a teenager. He ran 40 full marathons over the years, and still pounds out about three kilometres a day.
Retirement is not even on the radar for Hashem, who, dressed in black, conjures up the image of golfing great and fitness buff Gary Player, who remains fit as a fiddle at age 79.
“I don’t even think about it,’’ he says of the day he will close the shop for good. “I just keep going.’’
It’s not your typical grocery store. Nor is it your average shoe store.
Hashem’s Variety is a long-running Charlottetown business offering the unusual blend of sneakers and food for sale in the same shop.
The unique product mix is working well for businessman Salam Hashem, who opened his store shortly after arriving in P.E.I. from Lebanon 50 years ago.
The store is located at 251 Fitzroy St. Customers walking into the store early Monday afternoon first come across two large
bags of carrots stacked just inside the door.
Fresh oranges, tomatoes, bananas, apples, onions and cabbage are among a host of vegetables and fruit that next catch the shopper’s eye.
Then come the shoes — piles of them.
First, the colourful Asics sneakers — the only brand of shoe sold at Hashem’s Variety — overflow several large boxes.
After taking a sharp right, rows and rows of the boxed sneakers are neatly stacked on shelves with the top couple rows towering well above Hashem’s head.
Jogging and fitness clothing hang intermittently among the sneakers while one lone aisle is stacked with groceries: those frequently-purchased items like soup, ketchup, peanut butter, chips, coffee and even a modest selection of food for cats and dogs.
Hashem does not waste an inch of space. Goods are displayed for sale in every nook and cranny of the old building. The soft-spoken 73-year-old Hashem, though, most relishes talking about the shoes.
“We sell quality stuff, not old stuff,’’ he says without a hint of hyperbole. “They are top shoes in the market today.’’
Hashem concedes running a store for 50 years is a long time and a great deal of effort.
“That is a gift from God to have the health to do this,’’ he says. “You have to appreciate this.’’
Hashem, who runs the store alone seven days a week, has kept in shape running ever since he was a teenager. He ran 40 full marathons over the years, and still pounds out about three kilometres a day.
Retirement is not even on the radar for Hashem, who, dressed in black, conjures up the image of golfing great and fitness buff Gary Player, who remains fit as a fiddle at age 79.
“I don’t even think about it,’’ he says of the day he will close the shop for good. “I just keep going.’’
