First time business owners and new owners of the Norway Bay Golf course, announced the grand opening of the ASTRA Estates convenience store on Nov. 27.

Jodi Armstrong, a marketing executive with a software company based in San Francisco and John Edelman, who was an Aerospace Engineer for 32 years, retired and now . . .

does business development for an Aerospace company. The two have been embraced by their friends and neighbours while also balancing their full-time jobs. As small crowds went in and out of the shop, people came to shop but also folks from the community came to show their support, Armstrong pointed out.

When they initially purchased the property in February 2021, folks from the community would drop by share their ideas and highlight what they felt was missing. Armstrong underlined that the place was well known for its golf course and restaurant so those were the obvious streams of business. But slowly and surely the community said they could really use a convenience store in the area as well. Although at first, they felt like it would be too much for them, they realized even for themselves travelling for 30 minutes for milk was a “huge hassle” she said.

On the day of the opening, they were serving “the best coffee in all of Gatineau” Edelman said, as he’d joke around with the customers. They also gave away dog treats for people’s pets and candy bags for anyone who came in with their kids.

The store is currently carrying basic needs such as milk, bread, eggs, snack items but also things like cereal, pasta and wine and beer. For anyone who had anything specific that they wanted, they had customers write their suggestions on a paper they hung up. For them it was all about “listening to the community,” said Armstrong.

One customer said, “the community needs to have this convenience store” and added “it’s quite a bit of a drive to Shawville just to get a milk or snacks or anything like that,” said Carol Barber.

The couple expressed that they are passionate about making this their full-time job, but until they have everything up and running they will balance both, Armstrong said. With excitement in her voice, Armstrong said the golf course will be opening this summer, as well as the restaurant and they have already started booking events for their events centre.

When asked what surprised her most, she got emotional and said the support from the community and her family. “I’m a perfectionist and there’s a lot of pressure to make this what people want it to be and to feel proud about what we’ve done here.

I think it’s really important, but [the support] has been our biggest surprise and our biggest joy so far.” She added family and friends have been by their sides ready to roll up their sleeves to do all sorts of jobs around the property.

This new venture for both Armstrong and Edelman is about giving back to the community and filling a need, but also showcasing the area of Norway Bay. “If we can offer something, for the community, but also from a tourism stamp, it will bring more people to the area and hopefully build additional business,” said Armstrong.

“I think, for the most part, we should all be working to build our businesses together. To pull more people in,” she said.

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