Cottage Toys Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony For New Location

The Rork family has dug deep with a groundbreaking ceremony of a new Cottage Toys location in Lakefield at a media conference on Monday.

(left to right) Andrew, Donna and Ethan Rork at the groundbreaking ceremony. Donna opened the sporting goods store in 1989. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Current and former staff, construction workers and community members attended the ceremony where the owner Donna Rork announced the details of the new building for the aquatic sporting goods store.

Four Points Construction will build the new location and is projected to be completed on May 1 next year. The store will be open all season compared to its Lakefield location — with others in Peterborough and Stoney Lake — which is seasonal.

"It's a dream that I've had for a long time and it's nice to see it come to fruition,” said Rork. “When I woke up this morning and realized this was happening, I was very emotional. I've worked at this a long time, I've pushed, pulled, dragged myself through lots of troubled times in business as everyone does and to get to this point feels really good.”

Additionally, the new location will feature air conditioning/heating, greater storefront space, better outdoor display, a storage basement, higher ceilings, more parking, a cleaner shopping experience and a more technological adaptation to the business according to Rork.

“There are all kinds of new opportunities to really customize the experience with laptops,” said Rork. “You can walk around with a customer and build an order. You can do that on a tablet, walk out the door and we deliver it to their cottage.”

The building will be located behind the Lakefield Restaurant on 37 Concession St. It is the same location where the business started in 1989.

The location is ideal for the store since it is at the heart of cottage country, near the marina and the area has a lot of traffic according to Rork.

A regular customer had spray painted the golden shovel and left it for the business for the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The former windsurfing instructor noted that with the pandemic weakening and restrictions becoming looser that people are eager to go cottaging more often while purchasing recreational goods as part of the getaway.

“There's been so much increase in cottage purchases, boat sales are through the roof and that's an obvious sign that people are going to continue (after) skiing, tubing, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking and all the fun stuff that we do,” she said.

The pandemic dealt a crushing blow to the business as there were two months of zero income when COVID-19 forced the country into lockdown.

"I cancelled all my orders. I don't know what's going to happen, I'm running out of money and it was really scary," explained Rork. "I was really low on cash because you've gone a whole winter with no-to-little cash flow."

The business saw some of the best sales ever beginning in May last year when they reopened two months after the initial lockdown. Cottage Toys was so successful that it became troubling to manage the surge of orders at several points.

“It was quite overwhelming, we had such a hard time managing the volume and it's all coming in at once,” said Rork. “We’re really grateful for the growth for our business.”

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Real Estate Developer Has Groundbreaking Ceremony For New Mixed-Use Building

The Excelsior Centre had its groundbreaking ceremony at the start of its construction located on the corner of Parkhill Road and Chandler Crescent on Friday afternoon.

Councillor members, city officials and Thakkar commemorate the groundbreaking ceremony with gold shovels. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The 13,000 square foot structure by Excelsior Group will have retail stores on the lower half, 15 apartments on the second floor fitted with an elevator and a drive-thru pad for a Tim Hortons. Over $10 million has been invested into the Center and is expected to complete construction in early 2022.

The company has hired local contractors and services for the building’s construction such as Drain Bros. Excavating Limited in Norwood.

Aside from a convenience store, it is unknown what stores will occupy the building. Century 21 United Realty Inc. was in attendance and jointly marketed the project with Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis Group.

“To see the investment happening in our great in our community it’s wonderful and it’s symbolic of today while the province is opening things up and investors are putting a lot of money into Peterborough,” said Dion Gemmiti, Century 21 real estate agent.

“I know this subdivision has been in development for a long time and I’m sure the residents are all excited about it as well. said Vanessa Oake Hogan, Century 21 owner. “I think it’s an opportunity for new businesses in the area.”

“I’m excited to see a small commercial development come to the subdivision,” said Alex McInroy, a nearby resident. “It would great to drop into the store for a donut with my daughter Phoebe.”

The Century 21 representatives at the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The ceremony was held by Satish Thakkar, founder and president of the Toronto-based real estate developing firm. In attendance was his crew, MPP Dave Smith, Councillor Lesley Parnell, Councillor Dan Vassiliadis and Stu Harrison among many others.

“Whatever we can support who are in need and particularly during this time, that community, we want to invest in,” said Thakkar. “We should be a part of it, we should help that community in whatever way we can.”

Thakkar shatters a coconut, claiming that the outer shell represents ego and needs to be broken to let it go. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The groundbreaking event was the opportunity for Thakkar to donate $1,000 each to Brock Mission and Cameron House emergency shelter for women. The money for the former will finish the construction of the new building but unsure for the latter’s use according to Bill McNabb, Brock Mission executive director.

“It’s a win-win scenario,” he said. “When you’re not soliciting the money and somebody comes forward, it just feels very supportive and encouraging.”

Thakkar donating two $1,000 cheques for Brock Mission and Cameron House. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Despite being based in Toronto, that was not Thakkar’s only charitable contribution to Peterborough. In March, Thakkar helped deliver over 200 meals to One Roof Diner on his son’s 20th birthday.

Notable city members unanimously agreed that the building would be a significant contribution to Peterborough’s economic growth and development since the area has little to no commercial space in that community.

“When you have people congregating in one area, you need to have commercial spaces as well,” said Smith. “It fits a lot of what the needs are for the community.”

“It’s a plus and there’s a commercial component to this which there is none now,” said Parnell. “There are some services that there will be a complete benefit for this neighbourhood.”

The site of the where the Excelsior Centre will be built on the corner of Parkhill Road and Chandler Crescent. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Construction was delayed by two years since the city upgraded the roads around that area including the newly built roundabout on the intersection of Parkhill Road and Brealey Drive.

“It was an incredible concession on his part,” said Parnell. “We’ve very happy to see shovels in the ground today.”

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