“People are always asking at 1am, 2am – what are the stores? There’s no food around.”
Mamush Feyisa has a solution. He’s opening B7, a convenience store that he says will operate around the clock at the intersection of Yellowknife’s Franklin Avenue and 51 Street.
B7 is taking over a building that once housed Harley’s Hardrock Saloon and has since been home to Flowers North.
Inside, the new store will occupy the ground floor and will also offer a kitchen serving food at all hours.
“I decided to bring like 7-Eleven, the same. It’ll look like that but my idea is B7,” said Feyisa, who was working on the store with his young daughter on Friday afternoon, as a B7 sign was hoisted above the door.
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Feyisa, who has been in Yellowknife for four years, has March 5 in mind as a target opening date, at least for some aspects of his business. The full hot food offering and a planned 24-hour delivery service may take a little longer.
Hear more about B7. Listen to our interview with Mamush on Monday, February 26’s edition of Afternoons at the Cabin, 12-3pm each weekday on Cabin Radio.
Before moving to Canada, Feyisa ran a restaurant in Ethiopia.
“What is the need? I just follow people. I read their minds,” he said. “People were asking: why not here?”
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Feyisa says his store will have security to ensure operations pass off safely around the clock, but he isn’t too worried about that side of things.
“It’s a small town. It’s not a crazy town. Everybody is family,” he said.
He’s also unfazed by the prospect of Cabin Radio staff pouring out of the studios immediately opposite his store at all hours for much-needed snacks. (Now we can hire an intern to staff the night shift, knowing there’s appropriate nourishment available.)
“We can party together,” Feyisa said.
