Nada Harripersad was shuttering her Parliament street newsstand. It was 2012, and her franchise contract was coming to an end. She began telling patrons that she would soon be closing up shop.
“When they found out, they were upset, very upset. They didn't like it,” Nada says, remembering the fuss her customers made. “They said to me, ‘You have to stay! You have to stay. Whatever it takes, you have to stay.’”
“They all said, ‘what can we do to help?’”
Nada’s loyal customers came in regularly to discuss the plans for a new business and collaborate on the concept. “The reason I stayed was because of the customers,” she says. “Even now, when I'm buying stuff or ordering stuff, I like to involve the community.”
