Convenience store owner retires after 39 years of business in Shelburne

March 24, 2022 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For almost four decades, Bob Kim has been there for the convenience of the community with his corner-store, a staple place to buy anything you needed from snacks, to lottery tickets, to newspapers and magazines.

Now, after 39 years in business, the owner of Town Milk and Variety has decided to officially retire, turning the local convenience store over to new owners.

Kim and his wife, Louise, originally took over ownership of Town Milk and Variety in 1983 from Kim’s brother-in-law. At the time Kim was running a store in downtown Toronto, but said they were looking to move to a quiet place with more open space.

“My brother-in-law, he kindly gave up the spot so I took over from there,” said Kim.

Over the years, Kim took on other ventures with the convenience store including video rentals, until it eventually become what it is today.

The couple’s plan was originally to retire and sell the business in 2021, but they chose to push it another year – just shy of what would be the businesses 40th anniversary.

“It’s been a long time, we’ve talked about it over the years and it just clicked,” said Kim.

A staple in the community for the better part of four decades, Kim when asked about the best memories he’s experienced over the years immediately recalls the youth in the Shelburne community.

“Some of the kids from school they’d hang around and it’s kind of a meeting place sometimes,” said Kim. “We see people grow up – my kids, neighbours, customers – they go off too school and come back and they’re successful, and I see the progress which is nice.”

Now that they’ve retired, the Kim’s are already making plans for what they’ll do with their free time, including travelling.

“We really want to do a trip to a few different countries we’ve never been to. My daughter lives in the States so I’m going to visit and we’ve never travelled in Canada so we’re going to do that too. Just activities that we want to enjoy,” said Louise, Kim’s wife.

Kim said he hopes to visit his home country of South Korea.

After working in the community for 39 years with Town Milk and Variety and having now been retired for a couple of weeks, the Kim’s both admit they miss their customers.

“Everyone morning I look and see my customers and friends, but I don’t see them now so it’s kind of weird,” said Kim.

He and Louise also add their appreciation to the community for supporting them over the years.

“Thank you to the community for visiting our store and making business without them we cannot succeed so I really thank the community,” said Louise.