Friendly service comes first at Chico's

Owner offers his help at new Trent Hills hardware and gift outlet

Naveed Chico Khan has been in the gift and hardware business almost 30 years.

His new store at the corner of Bridge and Front Streets offers everything from keys to cards to jerky, but a few moments after you open the door it’s clear that Naveed Khan, “call me Chico”, is really selling himself.

Khan’s store — Trent Hills Hardware, Gifts and Mercantile — is packed with items and the floor inside the door is covered with boxes, some opened, some not. He’s been open for business since late November, but admits it’s a work in progress and he won’t be holding the “official” opening until sometime in the spring.

He’s been in the hardware and gift business for almost 30 years, at first working at Beach Hardware on Queen St. East in Toronto, then almost 13 years as owner at Kingsway Hardware in Courtice.

When his lease ended in Courtice and he wasn’t able to reach an agreement on a new one, Khan found his way to Campbellford, purchasing what had been the site of Kerr’s Corner Books and The Frog’s Whiskers Ink for many years.

A few years back he had purchased a second-hand car from someone on Queen St. and remembered how lovely the Christmas lights looked as he drove in along the canal. A friend also urged him to find a spot here to reopen his store.

Khan admits it’s been a challenge fitting goods that he had in a 4,500 square foot space into about 1,800 square feet, but insists he can make it happen.

“I know the next few months will be slow, but I am getting ready for the summer,” he says.

You can tell he’s already a real Campbellfordian when he offers a donut from Dooher’s and seems hurt when you don’t accept.

The store’s Facebook page has many comments from Courtice residents wishing him well and saying they plan to visit in coming months. Already, Khan is developing close relationships with customers here. My wife stopped in looking for an outdoor electrical outlet for a Christmas light that didn’t fit a standard base. He rummaged around downstairs because he knew he had one somewhere, then told her to take it home to try it out before paying.

An example of how Khan’s winning smile and friendly assistance pays off can be seen from the accessibility award he received from the municipality of Clarington, even though the store wasn’t really physically accessible. He won the award for his personal commitment to meeting the needs of his customers by reserving parking spots for shoppers with mobility issues, delivering products to them in their cars, or carrying items out.

The town said: “Many residents say that although the store itself is not barrier-free, the owner, Naveed Chico Khan, goes out of his way to assist people and make their shopping experience easier. Mr. Khan’s consideration of the needs of his community continues to bring people together in creating lasting friendships at their reliable one-stop shop.”

Khan and his wife have three children, all in university at the moment, one daughter at University of Waterloo and another at McGill. Since his son Abraham is living at home while studying mechanical engineering at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa the Khans haven’t moved here yet, but plans to.

“I want to live and retire here. People have been very welcoming. I didn’t feel like a stranger.”

Neither will any customer who enters his store.

Let me know if there are other new stores or residents that should be featured in Trent Hills News.