Sent: May 28, 2010 11:48 AM
To: Kitteringham, Kimberley; Hau, Lucy
Cc: Scarpitti, Frank; Heath, Jack; Burke, Valerie; Capocci, Ralph
Subject: Galleria Supermarket - Working Statutory Holiday Exemption
Issue
May. 28. 2010
Mayor Frank Scarpitti and Council
c/o Ms. K. Kitteringham, Clerk
101 Town Centre Blvd.
Markham, Ontario L3R 9W3
Dear Mayor and Council:
The Galleria Supermarket at 7171 Yonge
Street, Thornhill, Ontario L3T 2A9, 905-771-1474 applied on May 20th to York
Region Council for an exempting by-law pursuant to Section 4(1) of the Ontario
Retail Business Holidays Act.
We request an exemption for the
following holidays: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day,
Labour Day, and Thanksgiving Day. We would like to open on those days
from 9am to 6pm.
As you know the Act does not cover
Boxing Day, Civic Holiday, and Easter Monday.
Our application was deferred but we
anticipate it to come back to Regional Council later this year.
Jurisdiction under this Act rests with York Region, the upper tier
municipality, however Chair Bill Fisch recommended that we also seek a
recommendation from Markham to the Region. We would like to address
Markham Council as soon as possible to explain our application and request a
recommendation from Markham Council to York Region that the Galleria
Supermarket’s application be granted.
We believe that Galleria is a tourist
attraction for the 150,000 GTA residences of Korean extraction. We sell
Korean foods, appliances and other goods in our 48,000 sq foot supermarket and
smaller store complex. We are the largest in the GTA. Our location
is not within 2 km of a designated tourist attraction, however we feel that it,
in itself, serves as an attraction for tourists and locals alike in the Greater
Toronto Area.
The categories in which we claim
our exemption include cultural, providing exposure about the Korean way of life
through various events such as traditional Korean music performances and
on-the-spot food sampling within the store for people who seek the familiar or
the new. We also act as a home away from home for recent immigrants allowing
them to settle more easily in their new environment. Galleria Supermarket also
promotes multiculturalism by participating in a number of local events where
people of all backgrounds congregate to sample each other’s national flavours.
These events include everything from the Grocery Innovations Canada Expo,
to Taste of Asia in Markham in June, and the Thornhill Festival on Yonge Street
in Vaughan / Markham in September. Galleria Supermarket also claims the
exemption for educational reasons because it provides many classes for people
with different interests. These include ESL, golf, music, art, calligraphy, and
cooking. The latter is done in conjunction with George Brown College
whose students participate in culinary classes at Galleria as part of a
multi-cultural food course.
We look forward to addressing Markham Council in the
near future and to your positive response to our request.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Howard An
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Howard An,
Marketing Coordinator / Business Support & Planning
Department |
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