Hi! My name is Sara. I’m from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. When I was asked to do an essay about a successful entrepreneur I know, I immediately thought of my Uncle Jim.

Uncle Jim has owned a corner store downtown for as long as I can remember. My friends and I like to hang out there and my family always meets at Uncle Jim’s corner store for Christmas, Easter, or any other special occasion. Almost everyone in the neighborhood bought groceries at Uncle Jim’s store, or just goes there to meet and talk.

Even my mom used to work at Uncle Jim’s store when she was my age, but she told me the real entrepreneur in our family was their father, my Grandpa Omar. Grandpa Omar came to P.E.I. from a country called Lebanon almost 100 years ago and traveled across the Island for many years as a peddler before opening the corner store my uncle runs today.

Grandpa Omar died when I was very young, but I still remember some of the stories he used to tell about growing up in Lebanon, his adventures as a peddler, and our family corner store. My mom always has a few stories of her own to share.

I hope you will enjoy their stories as much as I did.

Sara

This digital collection was produced with financial assistance from Canada's Digital Collections Initiative, Industry Canada.