{"id":37110,"date":"2017-09-08T13:44:18","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=37110"},"modified":"2017-10-24T14:05:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T18:05:06","slug":"robinsons-say-farewell-21-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/robinsons-say-farewell-21-years\/","title":{"rendered":"The Robinsons say farewell after 21 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s always been about the people.<\/p>\n

“It sounds silly but we never had a passion for selling groceries,” says Randy Robinson. “We were in the grocery business but we had a passion for people. We were able to give back to the community and engage with the great people. That was meaningful to us and made coming to work rewarding. It wasn\u2019t, \u2018gee, we sold you a can of peas, that was exciting,\u2019 it was that we got to take care of customers every week and do things in the community. Our goal was to exceed their expectations, and we don\u2019t do that every day but we tried our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

For many in the community, it was an effort that was appreciated and is being expressed as customers stop in to say thanks in the final days before Randy and his wife Tracy retire from the helm of Robinson’s Your Independent Grocer.<\/p>\n

“It started off as Randy’s dream that he wanted to be a retailer and own a grocery store and I had always worked in grocery myself,” says Tracy. They were in Kitchener, recently married, and looking for a store to call their own. Tracy gave Randy a two-hour radius within which she was willing to move.<\/p>\n

“This ended up being farther,” she laughs. “We looked here and fell in love with it. It was a great place to raise a family.” Tracy was pregnant with their youngest child at the time, who is now 23. “We never looked back. A lot of people ask if we are going to go back to Kitchener, but this is home now.”<\/p>\n

They’ve been big supporters of community organizations and fundraisers in their adopted home over the years.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m going miss the ability to meet the community\u2019s needs, not to say we won\u2019t get involved in community in the future but we\u2019re going to take a year and not do anything,” says Randy. “We\u2019ve been able to do things for the community because we had this vehicle to do it.”<\/p>\n

And they’ll miss the people. “The last two weeks have been sad. After 21 years, customers know you and they\u2019ll come in and give me a hug. And the staff, I loved being involved and knowing who they were,” says Randy, noting that they had about 80 people on staff when they started and now have 150.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about bringing those people into our family and saying we are all in this together. Let\u2019s be the best at being good people. Anyone can come and build a nicer display or put up a new store, but we wanted to create the best experience. That was the highlight of our entire career and that\u2019s what made us love what we did for the last 21 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randy and Tracy have enjoyed watching their staff learn and grow, some moving on to bigger and better things. “It\u2019s neat to see that we were part of them growing and succeeding.”<\/p>\n

\"Robinson's

Robinson’s staff posted a sign in the store window wishing Tracy and Randy a happy retirement.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Robinsons’ kids – who are 25 and 23 now, living in Vancouver and Boston – will miss it, too. “It\u2019s funny how much they took in and how much this place shaped who they are now,” says Tracy.<\/p>\n

“They both asked to come back last weekend to say goodbye to the store,” adds Randy. “That\u2019s kind of cool \u2013 it did mean something to them.”<\/p>\n

But Randy acknowledges that owning a retail business isn’t always family friendly. “It’s a great gig but you\u2019re working Christmas Eve, you’re working summer weekends. The idea of coming in here next summer and shopping on the July 1 weekend and then just leaving, it\u2019s a really neat thought.”<\/p>\n

The couple is looking forward to enjoying life and doing some of the things they haven’t been able to do – visiting family, going to social events, or just hanging out with friends, says Tracy. They also have a place in Arizona where they intend to spend much of each winter; in the summer, Randy will get to do the puttering around home that he hasn’t been able to do, and perhaps become a better golfer.<\/p>\n

“Everyone says you\u2019ll know when it\u2019s time,” says Randy. “We\u2019ve been going hard at this for 21 years and I\u2019ve been going hard at this career for longer than that<\/a><\/span>. I don\u2019t want to not be passionate about it anymore. I can look at it and say we\u2019ve given it our all and it\u2019s time to move on. Because we could, it was just time. It\u2019s time to enjoy life.”<\/p>\n

They’ll lock the doors for the last time on September 9 and turn over the keys to new owners Darcy Bullock and his fianc\u00e9e Alycia. In the next few months, the sign above the store will change from Robinson’s to Bullock’s.<\/p>\n

“They are a wonderful young couple,” says Randy. “They are postponing their marriage because they are going to be getting the store up and running. They are excited and we are excited to pass the torch.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s always been about the people. “It sounds silly but we never had a passion for selling groceries,” says Randy Robinson. “We were in the grocery business but we had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1903,"featured_media":37112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-37110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-breaking"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Robinsons say farewell after 21 years - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/robinsons-say-farewell-21-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Robinsons say farewell after 21 years - 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